


Give Me Your Pain

by Kamalika



Series: Give Me Your Pain [1]
Category: Derek Hale - Fandom, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 04, Alternate Season/Series 05, Angst and Humor, Betrayal, Big Brother Stiles Stilinski, Blood and Torture, Brother-Sister Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt Derek Hale, Kidnapping, Love Triangles, M/M, Pining, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Burn, Twin Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-12 10:22:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 54,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5662795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamalika/pseuds/Kamalika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I don’t understand.” He suddenly blurted out, like he didn’t mean to, like he was not even aware he was talking out aloud, but he did anyway in a moment of weakness.</p><p>“What honey?”</p><p>Derek was either stunned at the term of endearment or he deliberated really long before answering: “I...when I...well...why are people hugging me?”<br/>What?</p><p>“Lydia...she hugged me, back there, and then Scott and then the Sheriff and then even Chris looked like he was about to, but then he just thought better of it.”</p><p>I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Of all the things that he could be puzzling over, THIS was what nagged him the most??? And people say I was ridiculous?</p><p>“Well, the answer happens to be very simple.” I could hear the smile in Melissa’s voice. “They missed you. They are very glad you came back.” After a pause she said, “I am glad you came back.” Yes Derek, listen to the voice of calm reason for once. That is what friends do. They miss each other, they bicker and then they make up and they make each other’s life impossible and they sometimes want to rip each other’s throat...but eventually all is forgiven. That is what friends do...that is what a Pack does!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of blood and tears

**Author's Note:**

> The departure point for the story is the sequence in Season 04 when Scott and Stiles rescue Derek from Kate, but to their horror, Derek has aged backward and he has become a 15 year old Derek with no memory of the older Derek. The scene opens with all of them at Sheriff's (who is Stiles's father) station with Scott and Stiles brainstorming over how to tell Derek about the massacre of his family. The OFC from whose point of view the first chapter is told is Wiga or Vi, Stiles's twin sister.
> 
> The first line is an actual dialogue from the series where Stiles reminds Scott that they are dealing with Derek Hale after all, albeit he is trapped in the body of a kid now and so they have to be careful.

 

“…everybody is happy; ‘cept for Derek, who is…never happy.” Stiles said under his breath, flippantly.

I looked at de-aged Derek through the glass window. We were inside dad's office and I hoped it was soundproof so that he couldn't hear my brother. He sat forlornly on the bench with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders (it was Deputy Jordan, bless him) and somehow, I just couldn’t take it anymore.

So after all those months (or years, I was not sure any more) silently screaming at them in my head, I finally exploded at a relatively innocuous of Stiles’s barbs.

“When will you stop being an utter moron for one second when Derek is concerned?” The protest burst through my lips before I could swallow it down. Both Scott and Stiles turned towards me, utterly dumbstruck. Yes, you jerkface, your sister could, apparently talk.

“What???” Stiles broke the silence first.

“What do you mean?” Scott bristled in all his righteous anger!

“What I mean is…” I closed my eyes and took a calming breath. I needed it to organise my thoughts which were going utterly haywire for what I was going to say was important. Also it was not easy to break the lifelong habit of being the non-talkative one, the silent one, the always-hovering-in-the-background-but-never-taken-notice one, the non-challenging one…and become one who was strong enough to stand up to Scott and Stiles, who were undoubtedly great and God knows I loved them both, but something had gone on too long and I knew I had to put an end to it. Right now!

“What I mean is what else does he have to prove to be in your good graces? Does he need to take a bullet for you by physically standing between you and whatever enemy you are facing, shielding you with his body, distracting them? Oh wait…he has already done that.” I lashed out, each word distinct and clear so that the message got across loud and clear. “Or he has to actually DIE from the wound and only then you will get it. Or probably even then…” I stroked my chin deliberately. “You would probably want to write on his headstone: Here lies Derek Hale, wearer of leather, creeper, stalker and lurker, beloved by nobody, fond of banging people’s heads against the steering wheel, allergic to happiness, amen!”

I turned my burning eyes towards Stiles. “You would like that wouldn't you? That would be just like you.”

Stiles tried to open his mouth. Oh no, you were not getting off that easily.

“You,” I pointed towards Scott. Stiles might be my brother, but Scott was no less, and I had to drill some facts past his thick skull today, right into his stupid brain. “he has shown nothing but kindness to you since the day you met, even if his face wore a scowl. He returned your inhaler, didn't he? Remember, I was there! I saw it. It was such a small gesture, but it proves he is not a jerk.” I breathed in and out again. I didn’t even know if I was making any sense at all!

“Allison, you remember Allison…” My eyes had started to sting. “He knew she was the niece of the murdering bitch Kate Argent, he knew she was the daughter of Chris who bullied him constantly, without rhyme or reason, broke his God damn car window, again for no reason…but it didn't stop him from trying to keep her safe, from YOU.”

“I wouldn’t have hurt her.” Scott growled.

“Oh you would. You almost killed Stiles…yes, I know that too.” Both Stiles and Scott winced at the memory.

“Hunters would have got you if he hadn't taken them out and drag you to safety. That is just ONE time I am talking about and how did you repay him?” I was suddenly aware of a pair of wide, startled eyes watching me. I looked up and I saw de-aged Derek, the 15-year old Derek with all the innocence in the world, looking at me, leaning against the doorway with Dad and Deputy Parrish standing behind him and bafflement was written all over their faces. Oh fuck, now my eyes were spilling over.

“When he came to you for help, Stiles wanted to let him die on the road. Scott said -” I bit down my lips to keep me from screaming, “Scott said if he died it wouldn't be a bad thing.” Derek’s eyes were bugging out of his head.

“Vi, is it really necessary right now?” Dad tried to interject.

“Damn right it is dad. We are always running from one danger to the other. When do we have the fucking time to sit down and discuss? It has been long overdue.”

I looked back at them. “You accused him of murder, and the second time, deliberately, knowing full well he was innocent. He should have bit your heads off and instead he helped.” My voice broke on the last word.

“When he took Jackson to the Hale house for threatening him for YOU,” I pointed my finger at Scott, “were being blackmailed by him, you decided to play the knight-in-shining-armour when all he wanted was to keep you safe. And then he faced the hunters knowing what was there in store for him, simply to let YOU get away.” I sobbed. I couldn't help the tears any more and I was not even bothered by them.

“He was hunted down and tortured and constantly being pushed to a corner and he had nobody – no Stiles, no Allison, no parents, no siblings, no anchor at all and still he didn’t run wild. He always tried to protect the innocent even at the cost of his own life, but all you could see in him was a monster, a killer, a person whom you can yell at and vent your frustration and he took it all in like the black ink of pain that he takes from others, he took it in and he never lashed back. He just bowed his head and dug his heels deeper into the ground and found out new ways to help you.”

“We saved his ass -"

“Oh yes.” I rounded up on Stiles. “Damn right you did. Out of a sense of duty, like you would save the life of Jackson, somebody you despise and look down upon, like you are doing him a favour. Don’t forget Stiles before you held him up in a swimming pool for two hours, he had stood between you and the kanima and he turned his back on kanima, against all his instincts, to physically shove you away from it and that is how he got scratched in the first place, while trying to save you, again. When Allison was brainwashed by Kate and threw arrows at Scott, he tore out arrows from his own flesh so that he could drag you to safety.”

“What are…”

“What I am trying to say is when he said ‘we are brothers now’ he really meant it.” I shouted at Scott, “but it was never like that for you. He loves you Scott, granted he has a shitty way to show it. He would put his body between you and an oncoming bullet any given day, not out of any abstract idea or duty or honour, but because he loves you…all of you…each one of your crappy pack. Hell, do you know he shielded Chris, his mortal enemy, with his own body, when the bomb went off at the police station. I was there, I saw it. He had fucking splinters all over his back and he could have died. He didn't hesitate even for a second….and he kept on saying ‘I am fine’…” I choked on my tears.

“And happiness, Stiles” I turned towards him. “You still miss mom right?” Stiles flinched and I knew it was a low blow, but he had to see.

“Remember he was once like you and Scott. He laughed without a care in the world, he played basketball, he whistled and sang out-of-tune songs, he fell in love…and then his entire family was wiped out. IN FIRE. Can you even begin to imagine the pain?” I heard a sound and whipped my head towards the door to see Derek gone limp and would have fallen face down on the linoleum if dad had not held him by the shoulders and settled him down gently on the bench.

I walked towards him, sat down by his side and pulled his left hand on my lap.

“You didn't have to tell him that.” Scott’s voice was low and menacing. But it would not work for me today buddy. I was far too furious.

“He has a right to know.” I said quietly, gripping his hand tightly, knowing it was probably not helping at all.  
“How can he be ever happy?” I wondered aloud. “How can he trust anybody after what Kate did to him? To a fifteen year old boy?” I looked into their eyes in turn. “It was a rape you know? Rapes don’t need to be non-consensual. She seduced a 15-year old boy, while hating his very guts and using him to murder his own family.”

Derek sucked in a breath, but I was not finished yet.

“Yeah, happiness, bring it on! Especially when Kate went scot-free and it was the victim who became a fugitive. Kate hunted him in his own house. Electrocuted him with cattle-prod and God knows what else she did to him beside the physical torture and that was a rape, once again. Jennifer pushed herself onto him when he was at his most vulnerable self. He completely surrendered to her only to be used by her too. You see a pattern forming, Stiles, you are so fond of finding out the patterns.” I raised my eyes at my brother.

“Then of course, there was the brilliant true-alpha Scott, who forced Derek to bite Gerard, never disclosing to him anything about his back-up plan.”

“I didn't know it either.” Stiles protested.

“You were not the one being forced to give Gerard ‘the bite’ and waiting to be slaughtered like a dog.” I glared at him. “You used him and you stripped him of his dignity. Isn’t that what a rape is? Stripping somebody of his dignity?” I spat at them.

“When he was forming a pack because he only wanted to stop feeling helpless, you accused him of power play. Well, didn't the Alpha pack offer him exactly that? They made their point even better by skewing him through a rod, didn't they, until he gave his consent? They only let him go because Deucalion was convinced Derek would bleed out, to the last drop, rather than join them. Some power-hungry monster he turned out to be.” I mocked.

“And when he was possessed by the Nogitsune, he could have killed Chris instantly, but he held on.” I turned towards the door which was by now filled by the tall frame of Chris Argent, looking at me with his unnerving light eyes like he was seeing me for the first time.

“But he didn't kill you right away, did he?” I said quietly. “He played with the lighter, threatened to burn the building down around you but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He was subconsciously giving you the time to break free for in some corner in his mind, he was fighting it.” Chris nodded his head imperceptibly.

I knelt down on the floor in front of Derek, who was just sobbing quietly and heartbreakingly and held his hands.

“All you did was to accuse him that how he was not a good alpha or good whatever you wanted him to be. You know he tried. God damn it! He tried so hard to have a pack and keep them together and to protect them and to nurture them. He tried so hard to save everybody…only he didn't say it in so many words. Scott may be your hero, but he is your fall guy Stiles.” Derek did not look up. I was not even sure he was listening.

“Ironically, he had nothing but good things to say about you Scott.” I smiled through my tears. “Do you know what he told the twins when they were trying to join your pack?” I heaved a sigh. I knew I needed to stop, that I was rambling on endlessly, but I was helpless. I knew I had to get it out of my system or I would burst.

I looked at the boy who was looking so lost and broken and helpless that it was breaking my heart all over again. “You are a very gentle and caring soul Derek,” I whispered to him. “Don’t anybody let you convince otherwise.”

“My eyes flash blue.” Derek whispered back. “Do you know what that means?”

I did know what that meant. A werewolf's eyes flashed blue if they took an innocent life. In Derek's case, it was a mercy kill which he was compelled to do when the girl he loved got bit by a werewolf and instead of turning, was dying in horrible pain. Peter had told us how Paige had begged Derek to take her life to stop the pain and how Derek tried to take his own life, unsuccessfully, after giving in to her request.

“Oh…Derek, it doesn't matter what colour your eyes are.” Would the tears ever stop falling, I wondered for a brief second. “It was not your fault. You got played. You were young and in love. You wanted the best for her and yes, you were a little selfish.” I couldn't tell anything but the full truth. Derek deserved that. “But you are 15-year old. You are allowed not to act like a martyr.”

“Kate was not your fault.” I murmured again and Derek’s entire body went rigid. “Nothing was your fault. It is just that this world has too many monsters who wear smiling faces.” I wanted to hug him tight, but I remembered Jennifer and just squeezed his hands instead. He fell for Jennifer because he was starved of normal human contact. He was not used to be touched with love and gentleness. Underneath it all, he craved the warmth of a comforting hand. He was just twenty-three, practically a kid still for God’s sake. That was why it was so easy to manipulate him. He was so strong and so fragile at the same time!

“Give me your pain.” I said suddenly and Derek looked at me, startled. “You can take pains from others. Does it work in reverse?” I asked earnestly. “Give me half of your pain, for you don’t deserve any of it. You are good Derek, do you understand. You have an invincible heart. A heart that is strong and unique and yet it beats for others, a heart that is not afraid to trust even if it is betrayed over and over.” I squeezed Derek’s hands again. “You can give me some of your pain, if you want.” I repeated.  
Derek was looking at me with an expression that so much resembled that of a deer caught in headlight that I had another tirade rising in my mouth, but I held them back. I let my tears flow freely though, not bothering to wipe them.

“Is my family…”

“Yes,” I said, as gently as possible, as if it would make any difference.

He suddenly heaved forward and before I could catch him, he was gone, towards the bathroom.

“You are still just standing here? Help him,” I glared at Scott who scampered towards the bathroom as well. Chris was nearer and he beat them to it.

I finally allowed myself to look at my brother. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

“Don’t” I held up my hand. “Just try to…” I choked up again and whatever I was going to say ended up in undignified whimpers.

“I didn't know you feel so strongly about him.” Stiles sounded stunned. Yes, why would he expect that from his wallpaper of a sister who was less intelligent, less witty, less brilliant and less everything in general but who just hovered at the background and observed, never actually having any say in any matter whatsoever.

“You love him.” He was still shocked.

“What is there not to love?” I raised my eyes at him, daring him to contradict. “The fact that he is rough around the edges, that he is not sunshine and puppies like Scott? The fact that his most favourite look is glaring? You of all people know he is all bark and no bite. You know his heart is in the right place, more than right, in fact and that he might be somewhere in the vicinity of being the hero of the story and not the ever-lurking, creepy anti-hero, an antithesis to Scott the great?”

“I am sorry.” Stiles mouthed. “I…” he opened and closed his mouth in a helpless fashion. Well, Stiles – speechless, was a thing to behold and I felt vindicated that my theatrical rant produced a little bit of guilt that was radiating from Stiles right now.

A heartbreaking howl from the direction of the bathroom startled us both and we were sprinting towards it at the same time.

When we reached there, we saw Chris kneeling down on the bathroom floor cradling a sobbing Derek whose face was buried into his chest and his hands were clutching at Chris’s jacket like he was drowning. Chris was rocking the sobbing boy back and forth murmuring low in his ears…and his eyes were glossy! In spite of myself a little bit of warmth started to seep into my limbs from my heart.

Derek’s head snapped up suddenly and he looked at me through red-rimmed eyes. I felt wind knocked out of my lungs for it hit me like a physical blow. I would do ANYTHING to lessen his pain right now.

He held out one hand to me and my knees buckled. I crawled the distance and held his hand and gave it a squeeze.  
“Your…name…” he mumbled.

“I am Wiga, Stiles’s twin sister.” I said. “But everybody calls me Vi.” I paused. “You go with Chris. He would take care of you. He has also lost his entire family, but he is strong. He is good for you Derek.” ‘Maybe he loves you too.’ I added silently. Chris’s face was turned away now and I couldn't see it, but I believed every word I said and I didn't need to see his expression to know I was right.

“Goodbye…take care. Will see you around.” I gave a final squeeze to his hand before letting it go.


	2. For your eyes only

Returning home with my brother was, well, awkward. I knew I could not take back the things I said to him and frankly, one part of me didn’t want to. But there was also a part, which was cringing away from the memory of it. Stiles didn’t seem very resentful though; thoughtful and uncharacteristically silent, but not resentful.

He broke the silence only when we reached home.

“Why don’t you…”

I turned to look at him and he faltered. Ok, today was a day of firsts!

“I mean you obviously love him.”

“You have said that before.”

“So why don’t you tell him that –”

“NO” I snapped at Stiles. “I am not Jennifer. He will clutch at any hand that is extended towards him now, grateful for the kindness and he would lay down his life for that person. I cannot take advantage of his vulnerability.”

With that I stomped off to my room, ready for sleep and of course I dreamt of Derek, as always. Today, in my dreams, he finally smiled at me, but he turned into a huge black wolf immediately after and gave out a menacing snarl. The snarl became a garbled voice as the wolf started calling my name.

“Wiga…Wiga…Wiga…” I was over the moon but something was shaking me so hard that my teeth had begun to chatter.

“Vi wake up…” and I woke up with a start to discover Stiles bending over me, trying to jerk me awake.

“What the hell…” I started.

“Chris called. Derek is gone. With Kate.”

“Wh…what…howissat?” It was too much to take in my groggy state. Why would Derek go off with Kate? He knew now that Kate was the one who had murdered his entire family!

“Why are you garbling?” Stiles snapped at me. I shook my head and tried to focus.

“Excuse me for not being very articulate at” I glanced over at the table-clock, “4 AM.”

“We need to go!” Stiles almost shouted into my ears. “Kate and Derek together is a fucking bad news, for the dude I mean. God knows what she is going to do to him this time!” Well, so he did care for Derek, in his own way. Why didn't it surprise me?

“Just let me get into some semblance of clothing. Get out and start the jeep.” I barked at Stiles. “I would be there in 3 minutes top.”

We drove over to the school for apparently it was the place they were headed. It was all guesswork though and when I visualized Kate with Derek (a younger and more vulnerable version of him) I felt cold all over. Stiles was, as always, so damn right!

Chris was already there. Scott and Malia had also come over, along with Peter. Suddenly, Malia grabbed Scott’s shirt.

“The smell…”

Scott froze, along with all of us.

“It is them.” A chill ran down my spine as even though I hadn’t been to Mexico with the gang, I knew what they were talking about.

It appeared out of nowhere, preternaturally tall and grotesque, with an animal skull fixed on its head and wearing, what could only be described as an armour made of bones. It was growling, making the hair on my neck stand up involuntarily.

“Berserker!” Peter looked like all the blood had drained from his face.

Malia dropped down in a crouch, into an attacking position.

“Are you crazy? Just…run for your life!” Peter shouted and to set an example, set off himself. After that it was utter chaos as everybody just scattered into different directions, following Peter’s example to a T. I didn’t even notice where my feet were taking me. I was not a cross-country runner for nothing if I couldn’t even put some distance between myself and the thing smelling like death! I didn’t see where it took off, but after a few minutes or so, I dared to take a breath and look around. There was no sign of the creature. I had just heaved a sigh of relief when somebody grabbed me and pulled me into the shadow. I would have screamed if there was no hand clamping down on my mouth.

“Shhh…” hissed Peter. I went still, not even trying to breathe for I could see Peter’s eyes, now turning into an eerie shade of electric blue, following the movement of somebody or something not very far away. After a couple of minutes, which seemed like an entire lifetime, he finally let me go. Even then, I didn’t dare to take a peek.

“Is it gone?” I whispered.

“For now.” Peter was casting a cautious look all around us.

“So where is this vault?” I asked him. While on our way Stiles had explained that Peter had a theory that Kate and Derek might be at a secret, underground vault belonging to the Hale family right here, at Beacon Hills High School.

Peter’s entire face became a sardonic question mark.

“In case you haven’t noticed, there is at least one deadly creature prowling in the campus. Not a particularly good time for a treasure hunt. Dying won’t be pleasant. I usually don’t enjoy it.”

“It is your nephew out there. Granted you have some bad blood, but surely you don’t want Derek to be left alone at the clutches of Kate of all people!”

“Hmm…interesting.” Peter tilted his head to one side like an oh-so-creepy heart-rate reader that he was. I chose to ignore the remark.

“Just…let us find him…please.” I pleaded, though I was sure Peter would only do something if he wanted it to be done and my pathetic pleas were basically a waste of breath. But to my immense relief, he rolled his eyes and pushed off towards the direction of the brick sign of our school.

When we reached there, I gaped. The brick sign had moved or rotated to be precise to reveal a staircase underneath. Peter and I looked at each other and climbed down the stairs.  
Relief flooded all over me as soon as I saw Derek, but something was wrong. Kate had him pinned against the wall and her face was, not human but something ferocious and dark, and Derek was not trying to get free, at all. More importantly, there was a metal grill door that separated us from the basement where Derek and Kate were facing off. It looked very sturdy and it was firmly closed. Peter approached cautiously, grabbed the metal bars and tried to open the gate. It didn't even budge a millimetre.

“What are you doing?” I wanted to shout, but I just whispered, knowing Derek would be able to hear me anyway. Derek didn’t respond.

“Sweetie…you have to get out of here after all. How do you think you would do that?” Kate’s face was normal again and her voice was…seductive!

Derek cocked his head to one side and studied her silently, a gesture so identical to that of the adult Derek that my breath was caught in my throat.

“Who says I want to get out?” Derek smiled at her and damn the smile was devious. Again I was painfully reminded of the older Derek.

“Derek,” I screamed. I couldn’t help it. I grabbed the grill with both hands and I screamed.

Both their heads snapped towards me. Derek finally pushed Kate aside and came over quickly. He placed his fingers on mine through the grill.

“Go home Vi. You don’t have to see this. I will be fine. This is what I want.”

“You want to bury yourself alive with a snake?” I started crying. The martyr complex had stricken again. I knew he was going to sacrifice himself to a horrible death to make sure Kate is literally dead and buried.

“Please Vi,” he looked utterly miserable and so very young, but his eyes looked older, like he had aged a few years within a span of a few hours.

“Go away. It is ok.” Derek said again, far more gently than an older Derek could have managed.

“Since the moment I knew what she had done, I wanted nothing but to kill her.” Derek glanced over at Kate who was checking the nooks and corners of the vault, possibly trying to find an escape route. “I am not strong enough to do that, but when she said she wanted to have the triskelion, I thought maybe I could trap her.” He looked at me again.

“She is not going to get out of here anytime soon.” Kate growled menacingly. “This gate was built to hold against any were-creature.” Derek ignored her and went on. “And once closed, only a Hale can open it.”

“No…” I was crying miserably. Derek couldn’t go down like this. This was so stupid, stupider than any idea that my brother ever had and that was saying something. “Do something.” I yelled at Peter who was looking at Derek like he was a science experiment.

“Vi...” Suddenly, my face was warm. I looked at Derek’s hand, in shock, for the palm of his right hand was cupping my face, ever so gently, with his thumb wiping at the tears falling down my cheek. My heart leapt to my throat. No, Derek Hale was not supposed to go gentle on me while he was sacrificing himself, again!

“NO…” I screamed at him and suddenly there was another, more terrible sound that drowned my voice and all of us looked up. It was Scott. He was howling and I didn’t have to be a werewolf to know it sounded utterly desperate. That thing was killing him.

“Scott…” Derek inhaled sharply.

“Is probably being mauled to death by a berserker.” I said hurriedly. “We need you Derek. Please –”

Before I could finish the sentence, he pushed something at the side wall and the metal gate slid open. Derek rushed out in a whirlwind and I tried to follow. Peter did not come with us. When I looked back, he and Kate were locked into a stare marathon.

I didn’t care for a) Derek was not dying a slow and horrible death, by being buried alive and b) Scott was in trouble, possibly Stiles too. I didn’t even consider that I was totally powerless to help them, but I pushed on anyway. Obviously I was slower than Derek and when I reached the scene, I clamped my hand on my mouth. The 15-year old boy was attacking two giant berserkers viciously while Scott, Malia and Kira were prone on the ground, looking as horrified as me. Stiles was standing some distance away, gaping. He had reasons to gape, because Derek…there was just no words to describe him…he fought with the two monsters twice his size like it was a regular thing and it looked like…they were having their asses handed out to them! I had an insane urge to jump up and down screaming ‘yes, yes, yes’ over and over again like porn movie character on the loose. Just then the berserkers thought they had enough of it and they ran, they actually ran with the invisible tail between their legs, I was sure, from Derek.

“Derek?” Scott said uncertainly for my human eyes were slow to pick up what he had already realized.

Derek turned back, slowly and I understood Scott’s tone. Derek was...well, Derek again!

Then his eyes flashed golden…  
………………

 


	3. Semantics...

“You know although I always thought I would rather die a painful death than see my baby sister dating Derek Fucking Hale,” Stiles ran his fingers through his hair, “but you do have my blessings.”

“I am 2 minutes younger than you –”

“Semantics.” Stiles said dismissively. 

I didn’t imagine that between trying to figure out the mysterious ‘benefactor’ paying millions (stolen from the Hale vault, by the way) to have all supernatural beings in Beacon Hills assassinated and almost getting shot by such an assassin at the school, Stiles would still find time to pester me. I, for one, was still to get over the shock that Scott, Malia and Kira almost died and if it was not for Satomi and Derek, they would probably have. Derek and Malia had found Satomi’s pack in the woods, her dead pack, wiped out by a virus, designed specifically to kill the werewolves. Deaton discovered Satomi was somehow immune because of the wild reishi tea she used to have. Fortunately, Derek had remembered that a jar of reishi tea was right there in the vault under the school where Scott and others were hiding themselves. I had hugged Scott when I spotted him afterwards and cried shamelessly on my brother’s shoulder for a full fifteen minutes. And did I mention the lunatic who was about to shoot him? Mr. Mccall actually had to take a headshot to save Stiles and his blood was all over him. He looked half-dazed, but thankfully alive.

Well, some days I really loved him. Some other days, I would probably snatch away the gun from the assassin to shoot my brother myself. Today was definitely such a day!

“If I decided to date somebody, I would not wait for your blessings, trust me, because you would chase away the poor man with twenty questions.”

“You are just avoiding the topic.” Stiles smiled sweetly. I never hated him more in my life. “Besides, no such luck with Derek, who would just raise his freaking eyebrows and silence me.”

“Or may throw you at the nearest wall or rip out your throat…with his teeth.”

“Oh my…all these pent up sexual frustration reminds me when I sometimes used to have the hots for –”

I covered my ears with both hands, “God, Stiles, images!” I shouted at him.

“Yeah that was –”

“I don’t want to know!” I screamed at him. I trusted Stiles to have no boundaries. He could name anybody from Danny to Lydia or even God forbid Derek himself. And that would be an image branded with hot iron on my mind.

“For Derek.” He finished anyway, grinning maliciously and I was traumatized for life though I knew he was only kidding. If anything he hated the very guts of Derek and only grudgingly accepted him after the kanima episode.

“Why not?” He demanded.

“Because, Stiles, you are not gay. Not in plaids and hoodies.” And because only one Stilinski got the official permission to moon over the sourwolf.

“God you sound more and more like dad.” Stiles grumbled, but thankfully did not protest. It was for his own good after all because I was seriously contemplating some bodily harm if he kept on that thread of conversation. It was something once jokingly mentioned by Isaac how Derek always threatening Stiles and pinning him down against the wall and Stiles baiting him all the time reeked highly of sexual tension, but the thought of Derek having any interest whatsoever in Stiles gave me heartburns. Sibling rivalry, I suppose.

“But, going back to the original topic.” Stiles was if nothing, persistent. “Why don’t you tell him in so many words what you feel about him.”

“What I feel about him is wide-eyed admiration induced by my teen hormones and nothing else.” I lied. “Besides, he has Braeden.”

“What? No…you don’t know that.”

“He signed on her release documents,” I said. “At the hospital. She is living at his loft.”

“That doesn't mean –” Stiles scoffed.

“Sure. Two such drop-dead hotness spend time together in a lonely loft, and they will totally keep their hands to each other.” I deadpanned.

“Oh,” Stiles's mouth moved without sound like he was trying to put two plus two. “But Derek may be –”

“Derek is not gay.”

“I thought, after Jennifer, he might be.”

I just raised my eyebrows at my ridiculous brother. How are we related again? I needed to really have that conversation with dad about swapped babies etc.

“Anyways, she is a mercenary. So I guess it is going to be a temporary arrangement.” Stiles was undeterred.

“I don’t think so.” I said hopefully.

“You are being ridiculous.” Stiles mussed his hair and looked at me like I was an imbecile.

“You are in love with this man since the day you met him and now that you have finally got over your wallflower phase, you just want to pair him off with Braeden!”

“Braeden is good for him.” I said. “Aside from the fact that she is absolutely gorgeous, they have this easy camaraderie between them, like they are partners on an equal footing. Derek needs a normal, healthy relationship to centre him, though he is probably one of the most centered persons I have ever seen.”

“Derek? Have you met this guy? Or are you talking about a Derek in some alternate universe that I don’t know of?” Stiles drawled.

“Try to be in his shoes and then ask me the question.”

“That is…” Stiles paused and then appeared to be deep in thought for a few moments. “Oh hell, yeah!” He seemed surprised. “You are actually right. He was never meant to be an alpha and never had any training whatsoever. At least he handled it way better than Peter, who is far more cunning and knowledgeable and all. He was almost always on the run, but to think of it,” Stiles actually looked stunned for a moment or two. “Oh my god, I just realized he is a closet ascetic.”

“What?” That was so not my reading!

“He never complained about living in a burnt out husk of a house or that filthy railway station where I highly doubt he had a bed or even a decent couch.” Stiles shuddered. Bed was, by far, his most favourite piece of furniture. “Then there is the loft, which is, Spartan to say the least.” Stiles looked completely bewildered.

“It is not that he doesn’t have money. But the only luxury I have seen him to get indulge in is his car. Why does he do that? Why does he only have the bare minimum and yet never complain?”

“Because he thinks he doesn’t deserve it.” I muttered quietly.

“He doesn’t deserve a comfortable bed or a nice apartment or a Jacuzzi?”

“No you dumbass.” I scoffed. “He thinks he doesn’t deserve anything good or luxurious. It is not that he is a sadomasochist. It is just that he genuinely doesn’t believe he is allowed to get things that will make him happy or comfortable. In his mind he is always the guilty party and that is partly why he never lashed back at you guys when you were throwing various accusations at him. He is always ready to take the blame for he never forgave himself in the first place.”

“For Kate you mean?” Stiles looked shocked.

“For Kate, for not being able to save his family, for not realizing what was going to happen to them…for living.”

“Oh my God.” Stiles covered his face with both hands. “How is it that we hang out with him all the time and never saw it?”

“Sometimes,” I said gently, “you need the distance for a better perspective.”

“And I shouted at him about his psycho mass-murdering girlfriend! I am an ASS!”

“You were upset about dad.” I tried to reassure him. “It is ok, he didn’t mind.”

“But I do…I do mind.” Stiles whined. “I was so insensitive. At least dad was alive and his entire family was burnt to death and I just rubbed that into him. It is like saying all over again it was his fault that the bitch had seduced him, a 15-year old boy to get to his family and that he was somehow to blame!”

“At least you feel bad about it.” I said. “Scott never thanked him for saving him from Kate and other hunters. He may delude himself into thinking Derek used to help him so that he could keep a low profile, but he had absolutely no need to save Scott from Kate by sacrificing himself.”

Stiles remained silent for there was really nothing to say to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos. Will try to post the next chapter soon...


	4. New resolutions

Scott was dead – for a whole 45 minutes. It was Stiles’s idea of course. As expected, I was kept in the dark for they knew I would freak out if I knew. Well, they were wrong. I would be totally calm about it and would go to Peter to make him turn me into a werewolf, so that I could BEAT SOME SENSE INTO MY EPIC-LEVEL-STUPID BROTHER!!!

I was really regretting the day I didn’t strangle him to death when I had the chance, when we were still in our cradles. 

“Scott is ok.” Stiles said guiltily for the thousandth time.

“Totally ok." Well, have I mentioned about our resident-guest, Malia, whom my dad seemed to have sort of adopted of late? Also, I was sure it was good for my self-esteem that my twin brother had finally lost his virginity and then some to a beautiful were-creature and I could hear them through the excuse of a wall all night, going for it, while I was of the exact same age and my love life was going nowhere except may be for veering right into a dead pool, literally!

I sighed, “Shouldn’t we need to put in some effort so that everybody is, I don’t know, kind of not dead?”

“Well, technically Scott’s heart was beating the entire time.” Stiles was munching on curly fries nervously and fidgeting on the sofa. Dad had a night shift again and the three of us were in the living room, rehashing the nightmare of Scott pretending to be dead to make the ‘benefactor’ come out of hiding to ensure the ‘kill’. It seemed Kate and her berserkers had gate-crashed out of nowhere and their plans went haywire after that. 

“What would have happened if Kira were a few seconds late to revive Scott?”

“He would be dead.” Well, Malia was the one for telling the truth, bang into your face, however unpleasant it was. Stiles winced, but did not contradict her.

“But he lived.” Stiles hurriedly added. “Very much, with his heart beating and all.”

“I thought, that was the moot point. To live.” I bit out.

“You have any other idea you are free to share.” Stiles said irritably. It was fake irritable for I knew he was still quite nervous, the way he was scratching his neck, jerking his knees and looking anywhere but in my direction.

“We take stock. We dig out heels deeper into the ground and we fight with everything we have got.” I had my blood boiling in rage thinking some random person trying to kill Scott or any of our friends for money. 

“Well, you are no better than Derek.” Stiles threw his hands in air. “Fight with whom? It is a bit difficult to fight when we don’t know who our adversary is.”

“We have to pull in all our resources. Join force with Satomi and others. We may also try to negotiate a treaty with the Calaveras. They wouldn’t want the chaos this dead pool and endless stream of assassins are causing.”

“Derek said exactly that.” Stiles commented gloomily. I refused to acknowledge the brief thrill I felt over his words. There was a war at hand. There was no time to indulge into my teenage crush at the moment.

“Well, because Derek is sensible and that is why he might outlive you. You morons will die of stupidity one day if you don’t listen to him.”

Stiles ducked his head and Malia stared. I had a suspicion they were again hiding something from me for Stiles was certainly not the one to let me lecture him on his IQ level.

“You haven’t told her.” Malia’s tone was accusatory.

What now! “Tell me what?” 

Stiles was steadfastly avoiding my gaze.

“Stiles.” He looked at Malia helplessly. Since when Stiles needed Malia to break the bad news, I vaguely wondered.

“You remember Lydia was trying to find the cipher key to unlock the third list of the dead pool.” If Malia trying to be diplomatic was not a reason to hit the panic button, I didn’t know what was, and she was being diplomatic, I was sure of that.

“Yes,” I said in a small voice. “And..,”

“The first two were ‘Allison’ and ‘Aiden’.” Malia paused, “the third one is Derek.”

“Well,” I took a deep breath, “that means he is in danger, like Scott or others. No need for extra panic, right?” Finally Stiles met my eyes. “Right?”

“Um…Scott was afraid of something like that. But Derek said that,” he fumbled for a moment. “Derek said that Banshees don’t predict danger, that they predict death.”

My vision completely blacked out, for a moment or two. The next thing I knew Stiles and Malia were hovering over me, concerned etched in their faces.

“I am alright.” I put my hands in a gesture of surrender. “I am alright.” I repeated when they continued to hover.

I exhaled. “As I said, gather our forces, keep our heads level, do NOT try to pull off any stupid stunt and fight back for all we are worth.” They nodded. For once in my life, my brother actually agreed with me on something. That was how serious it really was!

That night, try as I might, I couldn't get a wink of sleep. I hadn’t seen Derek after he fought with the assassins at the school a week back to save Scott and others. I wanted to see his face badly. I wanted to etch it in my memory, now more than ever. Could I really bear it if he died? I tried to test it by imagining he was dead. A wave of pure agony rushed through me and I involuntarily shut it off. Derek was still alive, though he was losing his werewolf powers along with the colour of his eyes, which flashed golden now, instead of electric blue. Last I heard, he couldn’t flash his eyes, at all! But he was ok and until the situation was reversed, I refused to think of a Derek-less world for it hurt like a bitch.


	5. Lock, stock and barrel

“Hi…um…I need a little help.” I said sheepishly. I didn’t like the way Derek’s features softened as soon as he opened the door and saw me. It was a testament to the fact that he thought me weak and defenceless and I only appealed to the protective self of his persona (as if I had any chance with any other self of Derek).

“Sure, anything you want.” He said with an open expression. I gulped.

“No, not you…”

He raised his eyebrows.

“I want Braeden to teach me how to shoot.”

Derek’s stare was loaded with questions, but he moved aside to let me in.

I had some apprehension to approach Braeden with such a request. She was a badass and one of the best of that kind, keeping in mind I was quite used to ‘that’ kind quite a lot by now. I was not easily impressed, and she, without a doubt, impressed me, probably intimidated me too, but mostly impressed me.

It appeared that I had nothing to be apprehensive about. She agreed readily and wanted to start right away. There was already a target practice zone at the mezzanine of Derek’s loft. It turned out I was not the only one who needed to learn how to point and shoot. It didn’t surprise me that Derek of all people wanted a shooting lesson given that he was resolutely anti-gun; because I remembered Derek was a human now, bereft of all supernatural abilities and so it made sense. What surprised me though was…how bad he was at this. It was like he was not even trying.

Braeden was trying to drill into him some basic ground-rules about shooting at a moving target, but Derek’s attempts were half-hearted at best. At one point, both of us were standing side-by-side, trying to shoot down the plastic discs Braeden threw at us. I could connect two out of ten and Derek – none! Even as a gun-novice (as gun-novice as the daughter of the Sheriff can be) I knew, Derek’s stance was off and his mind was elsewhere. It was so unlike him not channeling himself 100% into a challenge that was a life and death matter for us that I began to suspect…

“You didn’t give up on us totally right?” I suddenly blurted out. Derek went absolutely still.

“What?” He said after a minute or so.

“I mean,” I gulped, “You don’t think we are all going to die, are you? I mean, I get that Scott is always the stupidly optimistic one and therefore whatever he thinks doesn’t count much. My brother would predict all sorts of gruesome outcome of any given situation and that is comfortable, in a way, knowing different ways you can die.” I pointed towards him. “You are the most pessimistic person I have ever seen, but you almost NEVER give up. Even knowing it is futile to fight, you just…fight.”

Braeden was looking at me with a bored expression silently asking if there was a point I was trying to get to. Derek was looking kind of confused. Well, words were not really my thing and I was beginning to regret that I started this conversation in the first place.

“But it seems you are giving up this time and somehow it is terrifying me more than anything else right now.” I trailed off in a small voice.

Derek did not move, not even blink, but I could pinpoint the exact second he understood what I was trying to say and immediately after, his eyes steeled over. He tore his gaze from me.

“I thought you are here to practice how to shoot with a gun,” Derek said, his face a mask of cold hostility. I didn’t know what I said to upset him that much. “…And not with your mouth.”

Okay…touchy! We went back to practice and Derek’s score was getting higher with each attempt. Braeden got exasperated with my goofy smile especially when I couldn’t better my score of 2/10 even after practicing almost the entire day.

Yet, I was feeling a sense of achievement for hey, here I was, doing something crazy, something that Stiles might have done when his best bud had gone missing and there was a fight to death almost every other day. I couldn’t do anything when the ‘orphans’ tried to murder them or when Scott’s beta, the brand new Werewolf cub – Liam was thrown into a well to die. Then there was this party where Scott and others were subjected to some sort of subsonic noise that rendered them helpless and they were doused in gasoline. Mason, Liam’s friend had somehow managed to unplug the boom box, but even that might not have saved them if Derek and Braeden hadn't arrived at the spot. Derek, for all his ‘weakening’ (if you gauge his power by the human standards) effortlessly tossed around the bulky and muscular assassins like they were filled with straw. It turned out Braeden had un-covered the plot while interrogating the former deputy Haigh (the asshole who had tried to murder Deputy Parrish) at the police station. Finally, Scott and Kira were kidnapped, from Derek’s loft. He had borrowed them his place for a romantic evening (?!?!) and we were afraid they were taken to La Iglesia at Mexico, the same place we had found Derek. Well, in short I could not be the casual observer/caregiver/advisor of the pack any more. I wanted to be in the thick of the action, not because of the glory, but simply because otherwise, I was afraid to lose my mind, slowly but surely.

“What are you doing here exactly?” Derek asked quietly. He was sitting by the wall to wall window, watching me exploring Braeden’s collection of firearms spread out on the table. There was an edge to his voice. I couldn’t help the thrill that went down my spine each time he talked to me directly and the number of times it happened could be counted on the fingers, of one hand. But outwardly I aimed at nonchalance. It was a commendable effort!

“I told you I wanted to learn to point and shoot.”

“So it is all about self-defence.” The question was delivered in the patented Derek monotone.

“Why else would I come here?” I asked, suddenly irritated. “To look upon your glorious face?” Ooookay, now that I had proved I was Stiles’s sister indeed by putting my foot in my mouth, I added hastily, “I hate to burst your bubble, it is not THAT glorious.” Deny. Deny. Deny.

Derek’s eyebrows climbed up. My inner self was looking at me scathingly…werewolves, ears and heartbeats – ring any bell?

“Everyone is bringing something to the table. I hate to be the weakest link in the pack. I will need it at Mexico.”

“You are not going there.” Derek looked sharply at me.

“Watch me.” 

“You are not Mila Jovovich.” Derek said in the same bored monotone and accompanied it with his signature eye roll. Man, he could absolutely patent that gesture too, that and the eyebrow thing. “You cannot learn to shoot in one day. You are staying back.”

“I am going, whether you take me or not.” I grinned at him, devilishly. Derek blinked, completely lost for a second there. I mentally fist-pumped. I had made Derek Hale blink. That just about made my day. But of course it was Derek and of course (what else could I expect) he snapped out of it in a nanosecond and barked, “You are not going, fullstop, and I will make sure of that,” in a voice that made me take a step back instinctively.

“You remember, right, I am Stiles’s twin sister?.” I asked quietly, looking directly into his eyes, which somehow felt way more dangerous than facing off with a pissed of Darach or a stare match with the Alpha twins. But I held my ground. “I.will.find.a.way.” I hissed back at him.

Derek was the first one to break the eye-contact, which was a novelty and I would have broken into a little victory dance then and there if it hadn’t occurred to me how juvenile that would be.

“You know I liked you better when you used to be a part of the background scene.” He shook his head.

“Well I liked you better when you wore leather, drove a Camaro and used to kill first, ask questions later.” I retorted.

Derek turned his incredulous glance (glance, not glare, he was really getting a little zen-like!) at me. “You don’t seriously mean that. I was like this classic case of psycho-killer-slash-stalker and everybody used to complain about my attitude.” Yeah…as I was saying…zen!

“You were hunted down at your own town, held captive at your own house, maimed and almost killed by your own relative, betrayed by people you trusted the most –“ I broke off for I mostly choked on emotions. I tried to rein it in to at least try to appear cool. “You had your reasons to at least appear to be the biggest, meanest badass and menace the hell out of everybody. It was that or die horribly but quietly nobody gives a shit, thank you.”

Derek opened his mouth to say something, thought the better of it and just went quiet. 

“I never had the time to ask you,” Derek broke the silence after a minute or two. “How much of a hard time they gave you after, you know…” He trailed off. He had suddenly discovered something very interesting on the floor and I was grateful for it because most of the time I simply could not handle his penetrating gaze and just became a blabbering idiot when he talked to me.

“You mean…at the police station? Where I made a fool of myself?” It was easier to talk to him when he was not looking at me directly and I had a suspicion he knew it. Heartbeat and all – of course he would know how it was affected when he looked at me.

“You did not make a fool of yourself.” Derek said quietly. “You didn’t need to do that, for me.” I tried to open my mouth, but he cut me off. “But you did anyway and I never thanked you.” Then he unleashed those eyes on me…and, shit, he was smiling, that little lift in one corner of his mouth that brought out a dimple – that was so unfair. I turned away abruptly and pretended to be engrossed in a Glock 20.

“Don’t mention it.” I mumbled tightly.

“So, that brings us to the question,” I jumped for he was just at my elbow. “How much of a hard time did your brother give you over it?” Was there a tiny hint of threat in his voice or did I just imagine it? Well, must have been the latter.

“No more than usual,” I admitted. “But I am not sorry. Somebody had to tell them.” Then I peeked at him sideways and Holy shit, he was looking at me, again. I made a mental note of carrying a Sorbitrate the next time I came here, in case I get a Derek-induced heart attack, totally innocently of course. How had this guy gone through 23 years of his life without breaking hearts right and left was beyond me! He was going to open his mouth again when Braeden called out from behind.

“Vi, are you ready for the second round?”


	6. The trickster

“We are meeting at sourwolf’s place tomorrow.” Stiles threw himself on the couch to occupy his favourite spot before I could steal it. All of us had chosen to spend time at home with our family today. So in the last one month, it was the first time I had a Malia-less house, who had gone to spend the night with her father. We were tense like a coiled spring since Scott and Kira had gone missing, but now, we were almost relaxed, though we knew we would be facing death and terrible losses tomorrow. It was because we had a sense of purpose. The deadpool shit being over (I still couldn’t believe it was the deranged banshee Meredith), this time, the enemy was at least known and her location identified. We had a simple task ahead – rescue our friends and to try to return home alive, as much as possible.

“Don’t call him that.” I snapped at my brother, plopping down beside him.

“What?” Stiles threw a puzzled look at me. “Sourwolf? Why?” _Because…you don’t get to give him a pet name, because I don’t like your tone when you utter that name, because, somehow it feels wrong…_

“Nothing.” I grumbled. “Just…don’t…ok?”

Stiles plopped a few butter popcorns into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

“Derek doesn’t mind.” His tone was nonchalant. “I mean no more than usual.”

“Careful,” I said mildly. “To a casual observer, you are in danger of appearing to almost not-actively-hate or even God forbid be somewhat fond of him.”

“You, a casual observer?” Stiles snorted out an evil laugh. Well, that was the weakest comeback that I had heard from him AND he didn’t contradict the last part of the sentence at all!

“So, have you decided to be fond of him now?” I frowned.

“Of course I am fond of the big guy.” Stiles huffed, somewhat fondly! “When he doesn’t glare me to death.”

Well, there he went again. I sat up from my relaxed position and looked at my brother, pointedly.

“What?” He said irritably.

“You are fond of Derek Hale, you call him by pet names, you obsessed over him for a long time after meeting him, well the kind of destructive obsession that wanted to frame him for murder and to paint him in the darkest shade of black and all, but you did obsess.”

“Oh my God…what the hell are you blabbering about?” Stiles turned an incredulous glance at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You aren’t secretly in love with him. Are you?” I asked in a tight voice. Stiles choked on a mouthful of soda, splaying his t-shirt, my jeans, the couch and everything on the way. I waited for his cough to die down. Let’s just say I was VERY interested in his answer, because suddenly, I just had to know. Stiles and Derek had been through a lot together. I had been present there occasionally. But unlike them, I had never made any life-or-death difference. Had that bloomed into something else? Had Stiles finally figured it out that if you forget the instances of bitchiness, the totally-harmless threats, the sheer imposing physicality of the man, the brooding and the glowering and the lurking and the creeping the hell out of everybody, the put-upon act to push people away – underneath it all it was surprisingly easy to love Derek Hale?

“Dear little sister,” Stiles had finally managed to recover enough to give me a crooked smile and a patronizing pat on my cheek. “Derek Hale is all yours, that is, the part he can salvage from his oh-so-sad past that he insists to be his present and his suicidal streak that is what I take to be mainly responsible for the consistently poor choice in girlfriends.”  


Well, that didn’t answer my question, but probably in a way, it did.

The next day Stiles's jeep took us to the loft at seven in the morning. We wanted to start as early as possible so that we could reach before dusk. Stiles had his trusty baseball bat and I was hoping to borrow a handgun from Braeden.

Derek opened the door and ushered us in. After almost over a year, Derek’s beauty still knocked the air out of my lungs. I knew it was not the superficial or skin-deep thing, though his perfect bone-structures or the multi-hued eyes probably helped, but it was what he was inside – always thinking about saving others, putting faith into others when his was shattered, thinking highly of others and as low about himself as possible and ALWAYS ready to take the blame…he was beautiful, all round. He was beautiful for the same reason Kate or Jennifer or Peter or Kali was not. They had the outward forms that were pleasing to the eyes, but none of them had a heart like Derek's.

“Where is Braeden?” I asked Derek, trying not to stare at the smooth ripple of muscles at his back beneath the thin fabric of the grey t-shirt.

“She had left last evening. She and Chris are trying to convince the Calaveras to join us.” Derek said, padding towards the kitchen. “You want coffee?”

I gave him a blank look. What???

“I thought we would start as soon as possible.”

“Yeah the moment we hear from Braeden. We wanted to time it so that we reach La Iglesia exactly at the same time.” Derek threw over his shoulder. “So, no coffee?”

I knew for a fact that I had a tongue, but there are times I tended to forget it. A prime example was right now when I was staring at Derek like an idiot, at the expression on his face as he had half-turned towards me, standing at the kitchen counter (I had no recollection of how I got there), an expression absolutely normal and domestic and...my heart was just melting away, because there was neither pain, not rage, nor hostility nor stubbornness, nor coldness, nor iron-concentration, just no usual Derekness – but an open expression that was just minus all the baggage!

“I…I…”

“Well, I like mine black.” Derek now had his full attention riveted at me which was changing from neutral to concerned to very concerned by moments. And oh…and oh…that almost caused another attack of muteness.

“Cream and sugar, thank you.” I blurted out before I choked again. Derek ducked his head and turned back to start the coffee machine, but I could swear he was hiding a smile.

“What about others?” I asked Derek’s back, once I had my heart rate slow down a bit. “They should be here by now.”

“We are picking the others at the school.” Derek put down the steaming cup of coffee in front of me. This was the first time I was seeing Derek use the coffee machine or any kitchen appliance at all. In fact, it was the first time I was seeing him having coffee or any liquid or solid nourishment. I couldn't decide if it was weird or sad and pathetic! “Lydia said she had to verify something first at the record room.”

So we would wait then. I sat down on a metal bar stool and sipped my coffee. It was perfect and before my brain had even processed the reaction and its consequence, I had closed my eyes and let out a content hum. Well, a cup of coffee, made to my liking by, to quote Stiles ‘Derek Fucking Hale’, was my kryptonite. That suddenly reminded me…  
“Where is St –” I started to climb down from the stool and whirl round at the same time when Derek caged me, WITH HIS BODY!!!!!

I had no idea how he could still move so fast and so stealthily when, apparently, he had lost his werewolf power. Anyway, here he was. I helplessly took in the sudden proximity as I cringed back into my seat as his hands grabbed the edge of the counter on my both sides, trapping me in.

“Why don’t we talk about that thing that terrifies you?” Derek breathed out and he was, well I couldn’t describe what his expression was! He was not smiling, but he was not serious either, it was like his eyes were smiling, but his lips were not and holy fucking hell, I could almost feel his breath if I leaned into his space an inch or two more.

“I…” I just stared into his stupidly gorgeous eyes, thinking of endless, endless ocean and the feeling of drowning…

“You are not terrified now, are you?” He said quietly. Derek was actually talking to me with his face less than a foot away from mine, his hands and his body radiating warmth, though he was careful not to touch me. Still I felt like he was actually touching me everywhere, for goosebumps were rising on my skin and I would probably pass out in a minute or two, or throw up...yes, with my luck, definitely the latter!

“You have nothing to be terrified about. Everything will be all right.” I had never heard him speak so gently before. “Scott and Kira would return home. I give you my words.”

“Wh…what?”

“I am sorry Vi.” Before I could process that was the first time I had heard my name in Derek’s voice, he backed away from me, quicker than an average human and the he turned back and rushed out of the loft.

When I heard the sound of the locking of the deadbolt from the outside, I had only one foot on the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, please leave comments.


	7. Collateral

The slap resounded through the loft. I was vaguely aware of everybody staring at me open-mouthed, like they were seeing a ghost or a doppelgänger of myself in my place. Hell, it might have even occurred to them that I was possessed, like my twin brother a few months ago. The thing was, it was not far from the truth. I was probably possessed, otherwise why wouldn’t I feel any pain when the slap had probably broken my wrist.

Yes, I had put a considerable amount of force behind it. The kind of force that slowly builds up over a period of time, from an anger that has been stewing for a little over twenty four hours, especially when you eat nothing, drink nothing, think nothing but of the sheer betrayal and the sheer debauchery of taking your feelings for a ride…that makes you want to kill yourself or the person who has the audacity to make you imagine things you have otherwise no right to think and then taking it away, like a peek-a-boo, like I-was-only-kiddin’, like you-know-it-was-for-your-own-good...and….the mindless terror that you are never going to see his face again, to confront him, to murder him by your own hands….you cannot think, you cannot do anything…but just bury yourself in HIS bed, clutching HIS pillow, smelling HIS scent, biting down screams and whimper and whimper for the sound you make is animal, the thought you think is primal, the needs you feel are the most basic of the instincts and nothing else….you are just a bundle of nerves and nerve-endings and it hurts…EVERYWHERE!

Well, I was possessed – by a dark, unadulterated fury and I unleashed it on him when after locking me up at his loft and slipping away to rescue Scott, with the rest of the pack, Derek Hale opened the door next day and found me…or what was left of me…which was a teary, bloody mess! I had banged on the metal doors until my hands bled, I had cried myself hoarse and then had banged my head, but nobody listened, NOBODY came back, for me.

When I saw Derek sliding the door open and stepping into the loft cautiously, avoiding my gaze...I just couldn’t take it any more. 

“Why?” was my first question to him after I slapped him, HARD, across the face. He didn’t even flinch. I slapped him again. Chris Argent, Scott, Stiles and Malia had appeared in the background. But whatever relief I felt on seeing them unharmed was quickly replaced by the hollowness I felt at the pit of my stomach. I kept my focus on Derek.

“TELL MY WHY?” Derek stared at me, his face blank, completely devoid of any emotion. 

“What happened to you?” It was delivered in a monotone, no concern or emotion escaped from his voice.

I ignored his question. “Tell me…” Derek was silent again. I raised my hand again and he caught it in mid-air. 

“You will only hurt yourself.” He stated matter-of-factly.

“Huh…” I looked at my hand dazedly and felt a dull pain at my wrist. Well, I might have broken it. I looked up at Derek and suddenly started giggling. A flicker of something crossed over his chiselled features and Derek let go of my hand like he was burned. 

“I just punched a werewolf in the face.” I just couldn’t stop the giggling and everyone was now looking at me cautiously, like I was some rabid dog.

Suddenly my laughter died on my lips. I stared at Derek and I knew I looked completely deranged. Well, I felt completely deranged. 

“Well, since I don’t have a vampire boyfriend lurking somewhere to avenge my broken hand…” I paused, “will you care to tell me the reason why you tricked me into coming here and locking me up?”

“We were going to lock you up at your own room but you said you would find a way.” Derek said in the same monotone. “We knew you were not bluffing. But we couldn’t let you go. It was way too dangerous.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me!” I shouted at him. “And was there no other way to convince me that you had to FLIRT with me? How could you do that? How could you…” I broke off. I had no tears left by then. I had cried them all out.

Derek frowned. “We were only trying to protect you Vi. You are not ready to face Kate and the berserkers.” 

“Vi,” Stiles walked down to stand beside him. “I asked Derek to stop you, by any means possible. He…we had no other choice. The loft is the most secure place we know about. We couldn’t possibly leave you alone and defenceless elsewhere. Also,” he smiled, “you are too smart. We know you would have got away and chased after us.”

“Vi,” Scott approached me cautiously. “Hey, I am sorry they locked you up. But it was really bad out there. Imagine if something happened to me or Stiles, at least we could have died knowing that you were there to take care of our parents.”

“We love you Vi and we know you love us too. We are home in one piece.” Stiles heaved a sigh. “Can’t you just forgive us and let it go?”

I took a deep breath and looked all around me. The faces of my brother, my almost-brother, my friends stared back at me – concerned etched in their faces.  
“I forgive you.” I mumbled, looking at Stiles. “For I am so bloody happy that you are all alive and well.”

Then I looked back into those eyes…now hazel with flickers of green in the afternoon sunlight. He was still looking at me with an inscrutable expression. I took in his brow, his chiselled nose, his lips, his stubble and his entire face and said, “But I don’t forgive you for you could have rather hit me with your car and leave me unconscious with a few broken bones for I would have actually had the chance to recover from that.”

I didn’t wait for him to react or to let him see the tears that were threatening to brim over my eyes again. I just pushed past him, past my brother, past my friends and stumbled through the door, blindly, almost falling on my face, but regaining my balance at the last moment…and I walked down the corridor, climbed down the stairs…in a daze.  
When I heard the footsteps behind me I forced myself not to turn around.

“Vi.” It was not until I heard Stiles’s voice that I realized I was hoping Derek would follow me, if for nothing then just for apologizing, at the very least. I looked back at my brother who fidgeted nervously.

“I will give you a lift.”

“No,” I said. “I need to be alone for a bit. I will be ok.” I turned back and walked out of the apartment.

I started jogging at a comfortable pace, ignoring the sharp pain in my wrist, fighting the numbness spreading through my body, for running was my coping mechanism. I criss-crossed through the familiar roads, images flashing through my mind – Derek putting down the cup of coffee in front of me, Derek caging me against the kitchen counter, Derek and Derek and Derek and Derek and Derek…I internally screamed at him to get the hell lost. I was so MAD at him that I never thought possible. The most ridiculous thing was that I fucking KNEW he could have no interest in me whatsoever, other than a passing fondness that people might feel for a neighbour’s cat, but I still fell for his act for he knew what I felt for him and he used it! He used my vulnerability against me.

I was going to swipe my hands over my eyes for my vision was becoming increasingly blurry when a cold hand clamped over my face and drew me into the shadow. It reminded me of Peter from the day the berserkers attacked us, but it was not Peter for when I felt the body that drew me against it, it was not made of hard muscles carved to perfection…it was not a man at all.

“Hey sweetie,” Kate hissed at my ears, her hands on my mouth effectively blocking my effort to scream bloody murder. “Nice to meet you again.”

She threw me into the trunk of a car waiting in the shadow and proceeded to seal my mouth with a duct tape. I thrashed about with all my might, but she just swatted away my hands and wrapped around duct tapes around my wrists and my feet. Then she stood straight looking down at me with a smug smile on her face.

“Well, well, now I have my collateral.” Kate ducked his head and inhaled my scent.

I tried to scream, but it came out like a hum. She sighed and peeled off one corner of the duct so that I could form a few words.

“What collateral.” I managed to say.

“Well, I know Derek would come after me sooner or later, and now that he has become so powerful that he can actually do a full-shift –” My eyes went wide at that. 

“Oh,” Kate chuckled gleefully. “You don’t know. Well, you are in for a treat then. He is beautiful. I mean he has always been beautiful but now even more so.”  
“What do you want with him?”

“I don’t want anything to do with him. I just want him to leave me alone for now he can apparently kill berserkers with bare hands.” Kate huffed an irritated sigh. I suddenly realized with not a little bit of thrill that Kate sounded a bit afraid of Derek. 

“Why me?” I asked. 

“One way to eliminate the person hunting you is to hunt him down instead.” Kate explained calmly. “Derek would come to find you. And it would be easier to kill him when he is distracted by a threat to your life.”

“You are wrong. Derek doesn’t care for me. At all.” My eyes burned while I said this, but I knew she would hear the ring of truth to it in my heartbeats.  
Kate smiled.

“Tell me then,” she straightened up. “why do you smell of him?” She stuck the tape back in place.

The trunk closed with a resounding thud and my silent screams just died in my throat.

I couldn’t explain that I had spent the last 24 hours in Derek’s apartment, sleeping on his bed, cuddling his pillow, cocooning myself into his blanket…wrapping myself unconsciously with his scent. I couldn’t tell her how further from truth she was…that she had probably a better chance to lure Derek in if she had kidnapped my brother instead of me. I couldn’t, and the funny thing was, I discovered that I did not care…at all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Teaser:
> 
> "What are you doing here?" The first thing that came to my mind when I heard the voice was that I knew the voice, from somewhere. I stood straight and turned around slowly. He was standing a few meters away, with his feet slightly apart, hands shoved into the pockets of a black leather jacket, his achingly beautiful face pinched into an ugly scowl. Derek Hale. It had been six years and still my heart just stopped and then restarted at a double speed when I saw him.


	8. The art of trying not to hope

I was running through the forest, following the familiar trail, created by the cross-country runners of BHH. I loved the exhilarating feeling of letting oneself go to the pure adrenaline – the rush of the wind through my hair, the chequered sunlight through the foliage beating down on my face, the sound of dry branches crunching under my weight and the steady rhythm of my heart – the feeling of somebody watching over me! Whoa…the last one, was a new feeling that I had been getting for the last couple of weeks or so. It didn’t feel creepy though. It felt weirdly protective! I refused to have a theory on it, unlike Stiles, who had a theory on pretty much everything and also because I was one hundred percent sure that I was imagining things. The forest had a sound of its own – a whispered conversation in the rustle of the leaves, the cry of an unknown bird, the startled noise by a deer and the silence…the eerie surround sound system made it easy enough to imagine things that didn’t exist.

So, I was trying to tune out the feeling of being watched while running (that was my excuse for being distracted) and I ran straight into Scott, almost knocking him out in the process. Well, Scott and my evil twin – for of course they were a package deal and one cannot move without the other.

“Damn Vi,” mouthed Scott, “you nearly gave us a heart attack.” I looked at them guiltily. Dad had made me swear on mom’s grave I wouldn’t go running through the forest alone. Well, I guess that made me a very bad daughter.

“What are you doing here running like a crazy woman through the forest?” Stiles threw his hands around to emphasis the ‘forest’ part while Scott trained a disapproving glare at me.

Great now I had two big brothers going full-on big brothers on me!

“Do you have any idea how dangerous it is? There can be mountain lions or wolves –”

“Scott, for the thousandth time there are no wolves in California and mountain lions wouldn’t venture so far from their usual course that runs through –”

“Dude, not helping the cause.” Scott cut in to stop my brother from rambling and jerked his chin towards me.

“Oh yes,” Stiles turned towards me, “wolves and mountain lions can easily deviate and decide to pay Beacon Hills a visit.” I rolled my eyes at him. “And not to mention the body lying here somewhere –”

“What body?” I frowned.

“A body of water!” Stiles almost screamed at me. “Goodness, why do you guys keep saying that? A dead body of course, that is a body without any life, that is a dead body, that is not alive body. Capishe?” I had a feeling he had held a similar conversation with Scott earlier on the same subject. Well, I had reasons to be skeptical. Beacon Hills was not known for a high crime rate, if you leave out the odd incidents of animal attacks.

“How do you –” Well, I decided I didn’t even want to know how they came across this information, probably eavesdropping on dad, again. 

“What are YOU doing here?” I asked instead. 

“We…um…” Stiles started and Scott was frantically trying to catch his eyes.

“God guys! I am not blind.” I snapped at Scott and then I turned on Stiles who flailed a little.

“You. Spill.”

“I heard dad last night. There is a dead body of a girl, cut in half and they found only one half of the body. We went into the forest last night to look for it. Dad caught me. Something caught Scott or Scott caught something, we are really not sure what is what. Anyway, now we are back for Stott’s damn inhaler.” Stiles said it all, incredibly, in a single breath.

“Well, so you have nothing on me to blackmail me with.” I chuckled at them. “It is quite to the contrary in fact.”

Stiles made a face, but for once in his life kept quiet.

“Ok. Whatever.” Scott grumbled. “Can we look for it already? It is seventy bucks.”

I sighed. “Where did you drop it?”

“Further up.” Scott pointed towards a denser part of the forest.

Without further ado, we started walking with Scott guiding us. Both of them were pointedly silent, but I could see them having the weird eye-to-eye conversation. Sometimes I was envious of their friendship. I didn’t have a friend like that who would understand me that easily. There was a girl, a long time back whom I had a feeling would have been my best friend even though I had really talked to her only twice. We had liked each other instantly and we were sharing secrets in no time like long-time buddies. But I didn’t even know if Cora was at all alive.

“I dropped it somewhere around here.” Scott poked the dirt with a stick. I got busy looking around, but Stiles just stood with his hands in his pocket.

“Dude, I told you it is impossible for you to remember or find the exact spot. Why are you –”

I had my back towards them and I didn’t turn round even though Stiles had abruptly stopped talking, until I heard the voice.

"What are you doing here?" 

The first thing that came to my mind when I heard the voice was that I knew it from somewhere. I stood straight and turned around slowly. He was standing a few meters away, with his feet slightly apart, hands shoved into the pockets of a black leather jacket, his achingly beautiful face pinched into an ugly scowl. Derek Hale. It had been six years and still my heart just stopped and then restarted at a double speed when I saw him. 

I knew that voice for when Cora Hale invited me to her house for doing a school project together, Derek was out in the backyard, playing basketball with his cousins and that along with his voice, hurling innocent insults, laughing, challenging – I had filed it in my memory carefully and put a lock on it – for it was somehow precious.

I could just stare at his back when he tossed the inhaler at Scott and stomped away after warning us about trespassing into a private property.

That was NOT the Derek Hale I remembered, though I had seen him only a couple of times. But then there was the fire, which I remembered vividly and inwardly rolled my eyes at Scott who seemed clueless when Stiles narrated him the story about the Hale house fire, killing eleven people including Derek’s parents. I knew Derek was alive for I had shamelessly eavesdropped on dad, only one time in my life. I knew he was gone from Beacon Hills, for there was no way in hell I would have been unaware if he had stayed.  
Now he was back and there was a dead body in the jungle, and it looked like he was living in the middle of the jungle in the burnt out husk of a house for that was the direction he had stalked off. I looked at my brother and our eyes met in a silent question. His mouth was still hanging open a little. I sighed.

“Clamp your mouth shut Stiles.” I commented drily to lighten the suddenly heavy air and to fight my own breathlessness. “You are drooling.”

............

I replayed the incidents from the moment I saw Derek Hale the first time after six years up to this moment for a hundred times now. It was definitely what was keeping me sane. It reminded me how fragile my life was, how human, for it was easy to forget, being chained to the wall and all. I didn’t bother anymore about the stench coming from my clothes. I was just grateful that at least my chain was long enough to allow me to visit the tiny bathroom, though I couldn’t close the door. There was no need for I didn’t have any company to keep in my prison. I should also have been grateful for not being more manhandled than necessary. Kate didn’t even blindfold me and I knew she was keeping me in a perfectly ordinary house. My current location, the basement was also ordinary, except for the chain that went around my ankle.

“Don’t you think it is a bit of an overkill.” I had asked Kate once when she had strutted inside to throw a loaf of bread towards me, indicating my restraints. “I mean there are no doors other than the one you just came it, which I am sure you are keeping guarded. No windows except for this small ventilation shaft which you have boarded up. You didn’t need to chain me too.” I realised at one point I was rambling just to fill the void for the silence was oppressing.

It became even more so when Kate just grinned and disappeared beyond the alleged door. The silent Kate unnerved me more than the gloating bitch of a Kate. 

From the next day, or what I presumed to be the next day for not a single ray of sun ever filtered into the room and the days went by without me being able to distinguish between them, Kate delivered my food when I was asleep on the dirty mattress on the floor. I was effectively cut off from all human contact.

I was sleeping a lot and was semi-sure Kate was mixing something with my food or water, but I couldn’t be bothered. The more time I spent sleeping, the easier it was to cope with the fact that I was kidnapped by a psychotic were-jaguar, who might be completely out-of-control during the full moon, that my trail was lost because I was kidnapped by a car and it never went off the metalled road and therefore I was in an urban area where it was difficult and well nigh impossible to follow a scent, and finally that...it must have been days Kate had kidnapped me in the hope to lure in a certain werewolf...it had been weeks –

and there was no sign of Derek trying to track me down.

Weeks turned into month and I stopped keeping count.


	9. The way of the heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes a character assumes a life of its own and the author herself doesn't know where he is heading. I am just letting myself go. I am not sure which direction my characters are headed. I would like to find out though for I am just as curious as my readers :)

Stiles's POV:

Derek had skipped town, again. All hell had broken loose on BH, again (I mean seriously, this was getting a little bit tedious). People or things, looking like people were trying to murder our friends...same old, same old!

My sister had been missing for what would be exactly forty nine days this noon...

And I was not going to get a panic attack, but would handle this mess like a responsible brother that I always was who forced the person she was in love with flirt with her in order to trick her into locking her up in that person's loft leaving her to imagine all sorts of horrible ways the alleged person could die, which, by the way had been predicted by a banshee no less than a few days ago, driving the most sane person of our pack almost out of her mind in the process and also breaking her heart simultaneously. A round of applause, ladies and gentleman for Stiles could, apparently, do anything if he put his mind to it!

"She would not take it well," was all Derek had said when I had told him how I wanted him to help me prevent Vi from accompanying us to Mexico, but he didn't argue. God, I wished he had thrown me against the wall/banged my head multiple times against the steering wheel and this one time it would have been well-deserved! But for once in his life, Derek went zen and well, his timing sucked, like always!

The look on her face when she slapped him, repeatedly...and the look crossing his face for a second when she stormed off, when he let his wall come down for a moment, when he thought nobody was looking...'completely crushed' would be an understatement!

Then there was this twinge of something, like a little pinprick in the region of the heart when I saw that look on Derek before he wiped it to put on his patented blankness. I put it to guilt and was NOT open to suggestions or other interpretation. Nope. No way in hell!

Well, all these didn't matter anymore for like a broken record, my mind kept on looping over the same old fact -

My sister had been missing for what would be exactly forty nine days this noon...

And I forgot all about Malia...for an entire week! I plain forgot how it was all over between us. How crazy was that? Or the fact that our pack was now a veritable mix of all sorts of supernatural creatures and half the time I found myself wondering where I belonged for half the time I didn’t recognise my own pack. It was hardly fair to the others for they had been by our side through a lot and they had as much stake as say, Scott, Lydia or myself. But somehow, I missed the old pack. I missed Allison and Boyd and Erica and Isaac. Hell, I even missed Jackson the douche or Ethan the terrible on the bad days.

I knew change was inevitable and I knew I should be grateful we had a few friends to back us up when a new evil emerged in our town and I knew it was useless to complain, but something did not sit right with me, like an itch you cannot reach! Scott had no problem at all gelling with the new team like they had all been raised together and shared cookies and made up secret handshakes from time immemorial and so the problem lay with me.

It was probably because I missed Vi, so goddamn much. I refused to entertain the possibility it might be something else, like the gaping hole of an absence roughly in the size a snarling hulk from our life. I...we refused to discuss this absence at all, even though we were always talking about how we missed Vi. We, that was Scott, Lydia and I, were trying to go on like everything was alright other than my missing sister and that nobody had packed up and left quietly, while we just stood awkwardly and shuffled our feet. We pretended we didn’t hear somebody say ‘goodbye’ in the monotone we all came to hate with the same blank expression as the person wore when he talked about his own or somebody else’s imminent death. We pretended it was perfectly normal that the person didn’t leave a forwarding address. We pretended that it was not a big deal that we didn’t even ask him to leave one. We pretended it didn’t matter at all that we tried to call him to beg him to come back immediately afterwards only because Scott was unable to track down Vi’s scent, only because he was the most prolific tracker and that we needed him desperately to rescue my sister.

We, well I pretended that was why we needed him anyway.

We pretended...and we were almost successful!

However, long story short, Derek was not here. His phone kept on repeating the ‘currently unreachable’ status of the device which could mean he had either changed his number or was wilfully choosing to ignore calls from Beacon Hills. Scott could track Vi up to an alley from where the scent disappeared and we guessed whoever took her used a car. Dad had put the berserker to shame the way he reacted. There was a house to house search and all cases were put on hold for at least a week. We made up our own search parties and combed through the forest. There was no trace of Vi.

 _Come back_ – I suddenly noticed I had absently typed an SMS to Derek. Scott would not do it because the way Derek had left us in a lurch still stung and he was pissed with him. As I said, we never even mentioned his name any more like he never existed. My fingers hovered over the keypad for a few moments before I added a ' _please_ ' before the ‘ _come back_ ’. I hit ‘send’ quickly before I chickened out. It was a long shot and I immediately regretted it afterwards. But my only consolation was that Derek would in all probability never see the message or even if he did, I didn’t see how a pathetic, tiny message from a person he barely tolerated half the time would make any difference given the fact that Scott was unsuccessful in reaching him. Derek had never been able to stay away when Scott needed him. Not when the hunters went after him, not when Allison’s crazy mother tried to murder him, not when the alpha pack tried to kill him, not even when Derek was de-aged and had no memory of Scott and the berserkers were about to rip Scott apart and finally not when Kate, his own nemesis, had kidnapped Scott. The last time he knew the adventure would kill him, Lydia predicted no less.

Well, it almost did!

I still could not get over the jolt right through my heart when I saw him bleeding out on the stone that day. He still insisted that we saved Scott and that he would be fine. Well, nobody was fooled, for we knew he was dying. I shouldn’t have hesitated to leave because for fuck’s sake I didn’t even like this guy and it was my best friend, my Scott, who was probably dying inside. I shouldn’t have, but for some crazy reason I did and when I tore my gaze from Derek, it was like the inside of me was exploding, like I had to physically drag my body away. I wanted to stay back. I wanted him to live. I wanted him to live so very much.

But the sensation was nothing new. I panicked every time I thought Derek was dead, starting from the time we barely knew him and he was hit with the wolfsbane bullet. I cursed at him the entire day while he was bleeding out on my car seat and I wanted him to die. I thought I wanted him to die. I was sure I wanted him to die, until he actually almost died on the floor of the animal clinic. I was sure my heart stopped beating for a moment or two. That was the reason I kept him afloat in the swimming pool when he was paralysed neck down and the kanima kept circling us, looking for all the world like it was going to devour us alive. I just couldn’t let go. I let go of the phone instead, the only mean to save myself, but I just couldn’t bear to see Derek’s body sinking down and down and his last breath leaving his body. I simply couldn’t bear the thought. That day if Scott hadn’t come to scare the kanima away and pull us out I would have kept him afloat until I had no strength left and then would have drowned with him, rather than letting go. I was so sure of it that it still caused me vivid nightmares. After the fight with the alpha pack, I never believed for a single second that he was dead. Somehow I was sure I would KNOW if he was dead.

And now he was gone and as good as dead to us. There was this void that was refusing to go away. There was this guilt that was feeding on my heart like a vulture. There was my sister...missing, and we could do nothing, but methodically search for her.

I missed my sister. I wanted her back. I missed Derek. I wanted his sorry ass to be back at BH too, for better or for worse!


	10. Wrong place, wrong time

Stiles's POV:

I killed a man today and had my first panic attack after the nogitsune incident. I didn’t even have the excuse of a demonic possession this time. My brain was fully functional and my body was completely under my control. I deliberately let loose an iron rod impaling the man in BHH library. 

I didn’t think I would be able to sleep at night, but surprisingly I did. Then I dreamed. It was incoherent, blurry, until I saw Scott and then it was like I was under an intense spotlight and everything became sharp and distinct.

I squinted against the light and looked at Scott, who was standing outside the circle of light and was looking cold and distant.

“The accused killed Donovan Donati in cold blood in the sanctuary of learning and knowledge. Donovon Donati was only twenty five years of age and is survived by his mother.” Scott’s words were stilted and judgmental. I shivered under the unwavering steely gaze.

“The accused claims he was attacked by Mr Donati first and that he was trying to ‘eat’ him” Scott’s eyebrow rose at the word ‘eat’ and an incredulous tone crept into his voice, a tone that questioned my sanity. It sounded worse because Scott was recanting the incident with such a clinical detachment.

“Scott,” I licked my lips. “What is happening?”

“The accused also claims that Mr. Donati had been kidnapped by a triad of para-scientists who tried to turn him into a supernatural being, in this case, a wendigo.” Scott went on in the same hard tone as if he didn’t hear me at all.

I was feeling the onset of another panic attack. My vision was getting blurry as I started to fight for breathing. I had to get away from here, away from the glaring light and Scott. I turned and ran into the darkness, but my feet felt heavy. I was so heavy and I was cold…so cold. I bumped into somebody.

Malia stood with her feet apart and arms across her chest. I didn’t understand the look on her face. It was the same mask of coldness as was Scott’s. One by one the pack gathered around her. There was Lydia by her side and Kira on the other. Liam stood behind Malia and Jordan beside Lydia. Even Mason was there, peeking from behind Liam. Finally Scott stepped out from the shadow to stand in front, a step ahead of everybody and his stance was…was like he was defending his pack against…me!

“We are always about saving others.” Malia said this time.

“YOU taught me that.” Her tone was accusatory.

“You don’t get to kill our adversaries to teach them a lesson.” Hissed Lydia.

“He would have killed me.” I pleaded, looking at Scott and ignoring the rest. He was my best friend and he would have to understand.

“You don’t know that.” Scott’s voice was unwavering. “What if you were wrong? What if he just wanted to kidnap you or threaten you? You know we had your back and we would have come for you.”

“Like you had Vi’s back!” I spat at Scott. 

Scott frowned. “We would find Vi. We always overcome the odds.”

“But at what cost?” I shouted. “At some point survival becomes important than ideals.”

“What is important is that we don’t become the monsters we are fighting.” It was Kira this time. However, I knew all of them were Scott or his reflection – the true Alpha and his pack. “Remember we didn’t kill you when you were possessed because we wanted to save people, not kill them at the first convenient opportunity.”

I laughed bitterly. “I had told you time and again that you should have. Allison would have lived if you killed me and I didn’t have to live with the guilt forever.” Then I met Scott’s eyes. “But try as I may, I refuse to feel guilty about killing Donovan.” The psycho had already threatened to murder my father in front of everybody when he was human. As a wendigo he was out to kill me and I had no doubt in my mind about that. I had survived by the skin of my teeth.

“Everybody can be saved.” Scott was unrelenting and he was getting on my nerves.

“I am sorry that I was little too busy trying not to get eaten alive and didn’t have time to be nice to a cannibalistic shape-shifter.” I spat at them. “It should have crossed my mind to let him make a chew toy of my leg while I thought of altruistic ways to help him, probably upholding the benefits of going vegan or something.”

“It is unfortunate you think this way.” Scott shook his head and he turned his back on me. The pack, every member of it, turned with him, as a unit and walked away, leaving me alone in the gloom.

So that was it. I was officially thrown out of the pack. I breathed out. Well, that settled it then. As it was I was feeling more and more out of place, starting from the day Theo Raeken wormed his way into our pack. I still couldn’t believe Scott pulled Derek’s example to demonstrate my trust issues. Unlike Theo, Derek had never tried to appear nice, quite the contrary in fact. He went out of the way to appear as a prickly and particularly creepy sort of person, wolf, or wolf-person. Derek would have understood. He knew what was integral to survival and sticking to needless ideals was not one of them. Derek would probably have thrown a fit over how I handled things and directed a glare or two from time to time and he would…

be standing right behind me in his sneaky way making me jump ten feet in air.

“Stiles.” He said. He was not wearing his signature scowl though. His face was neutral and he looked…resigned?

“Derek,” I squeaked. “I killed a wendigo,” sounding exactly as mature as a five year old.

Derek raised his eyebrows. “Congratulations. When do we open the champagne?”

“Scott is angry with me for killing it.” I whined.

“Oh yes,” Derek chuckled. “Scott and killing don’t go hand in hand. He sees good in everything.” Derek’s voice was almost fond and I felt a twinge of jealousy which spurred my next comment.

“Except for you.”

“Except for me.” Derek agreed.

We stared at each other for a few moments. It was a comfortable silence after the turmoil of my altercation with Scott and the pack (it was interesting how in my dreams they acted like one and it was beyond interesting how I knew for a fact that I was dreaming).

“Why did it take such a long time for him to figure out what you are…what you meant for him, for the pack?” I wondered aloud. “Why did we hate you so much at first?”  
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Derek said quietly. “It was not his fault.”

Then he added with a sudden glint in his eyes, “and you? You never hated me.”

“Huh,” I threw my hands in air. “I wanted you to be dead. I mentioned it a number of times. That should be a hint of an epic proportion! I wished you to be dead.”

“No you didn’t.” There was absolute conviction in Derek’s voice and it made me stop fidgeting and look deep into those impossible eyes – there was wisdom beyond his age, there was suffering without complaint and there was this ancient sadness, like he was walking upon this earth for eons and not a mere twenty three years. Why did I never notice before? Why were we so quick to judge? Why did we add to his burden and guilt and multiply it? Why did we have to be so insensitive? 

“Will you never come back?” My heart beat wildly against my ribs as Derek continued to stare back at me. He was an intense person and to be subjected to be the centre of his focus for more than a minute was…well, let’s just say it did funny things to my internal organs.

“We need you. Vi needs you.” I swallowed.

Derek’s face if possible became even sadder. 

“Wake up Stiles.” He said softly. 

“No…” I reached for him. I didn’t want him to disappear. I needed him to stay. I knew it was a dream, but I absolutely needed him to stay, in my dreams, in my waking up. I was never so sure of anything else in my life. 

“Don’t go…” I said pathetically as Derek’s form began to disintegrate and my fingers slashed through an empty space.

“Wake up…” Derek whispered before disappearing altogether and it was so cold, so utterly cold that my teeth chattered. The wind was picking up all around me, it was gathering power and a thunder rumbled across the sky.

“Wake up.” I heard another voice in the distance and my eyes snapped open. Dad was shaking me and seeing me open my eyes he sagged in relief.

“What happened?” I sat up confused.

“You were screaming your head off and you wouldn’t wake up.” Dad passed a hand over his face. He looked tired and drawn.

“I am almost afraid to ask, but is there something you would like to tell me?” He asked gently.

“I miss Vi.” I said.

“I know kiddo, so do I.” Dad pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. “Is that all?”

“Yeah.” I said, avoiding his eyes. What with one more lie?


	11. Black widow

“Hey sweetie…how are you holding up so far?” I hated the saccharine sweet voice of Kate pulling me out temporarily from my drowsiness, which seemed to be my default state by now. I had tried to refuse food and water. I lasted for three days. The idea of starving to death did not appeal to my body. It is amazing how when the survival instinct kicks in your body refuses to listen to your brain, which had figured out by now that starving to death would probably be a better option than what Kate had in mind for me, given her track record. But tell that to my stupid body which could not cope with it and after going without food and water for a mere seventy two hours, it just gave in at the smell of pepperoni. How pathetic! In its defense the being-chained-to-an-underground-basement part had really taken its toll. I felt weak all the time and my pulse and heart-rate was going alarmingly high. There was little strength left in my feet even though I tried to pace in the basement whenever I could so that I didn’t forget their use altogether.

“Other than the little thing that a psychotic bitch has me chained down in a basement for a month you mean?” I managed a smirk beating down the rising panic. “Peachy.”

Kate sauntered down the narrow wooden staircase that connected the basement to the ground floor of the house.

“Oh how you remind me of him.” Kate grinned showing her gleaming teeth. “And uh…oh, you think it is one month?”

I just started at her while slowly backing up as she strolled towards me. I had attacked her (or tried to anyway) once in the past, my chain was long enough for the maneuvering, but the lesson was learned. The deep gashes against my side had not healed completely and I had narrowly avoided breaking my spine while my body had gone flying across the room. Kate continued to advance on me until I was flush against the wall.

“Sweetie, it is nearly three months.”

I gasped. “You are lying.” 

Kate’s grin widened. “But I am not. I used to think you were a part of the pack Vi.” She brought her face within inches of mine and I couldn’t help flinching back. “It seems they have all but forgotten about you.”

“No.” I shook my head so vehemently that I began to feel dizzy. I was angry with myself for being this weak. 

“Well, they did go through the senior scribe without you.” Kate mock pouted. “So mean of them.” I internally died a little. So my friends were all senior without me and they had gone through the ritual of signing their initials on the shelf of BHH library at midnight as Stiles and I had always planned. And they had done it without me. 

“And they have a new pack-mate now, some childhood friend of Scott who had returned to Beacon Hills. He is cute. I wish I could show you, oh well it turns out I can.” She took out a phone from the back pocket of her jeans, flipped it open and shoved it into my face. I bit down my lower lip to stop it from trembling. There they were – my pack, sitting in the BHH cafeteria. They were looking happy and carefree and my usual spot beside Stiles was occupied by a guy I had never seen before…and…and my brother was laughing at something. 

My God how did she come across the picture? Did she have somebody spying on them? I tried to focus on the pragmatic side of this ignoring the sharp pang of jealousy. But I was fooling nobody. Kate’s glinting eyes bore into me.

“Little miss sunshine is quite forgotten, you see.” She made a sad face. “Little miss sunshine is jealous.”

Internally I was dying a thousand little deaths. The pack looked like it was doing fine without me and it was getting re-inforced with new members. They are going on with their normal activities. Of course they would, for after all why would their life come to a stand still for me? Would I expect them to stop everything, stop attending school, stop making friends, stop having fun, stop doing pretty much everything until they find me? Absolutely not! They were teenagers and they got over things. They had got over Allison and they would get over me. They probably think I was dead and had given up on me. But I would die rather than give Kate the satisfaction to know she had got me.

“Fuck you.” I spat at her.

“Oh,” Kate threw her head back and laughed. “Just like him. Defiant till the end.”

“Why don’t you kill me then?” I asked, trying to fish for information. “I am of no use to you. They wouldn’t come for me. You should have been a little sloppier if the idea was for them to find me.”

“Why would I kill you? You are adorable.” Kate smiled beatifically at me and it was so out of place with her angular, predatory face that it sent a chill down my spine. “I wouldn’t even torture you.” She cocked her head to one side. “I am better than your friends in a way Vi. They have abandoned you and here I am an alleged monster who has you at her mercy. But I would not hurt a hair on your head.”

“Why?” I stared at her wide-eyed.

“Because for one thing it wouldn’t accomplish anything. Besides you remind me of Allison.” I blinked at her without comprehension. She was a monster, devoid of feelings. She shouldn’t sound like that when taking her name, the girl who was my best friend after Lydia, the girl whom I missed for day and night the girl who died saving us.  
“You never cared for Allison or anybody else.” It was a statement.

“Oh they would like you to believe that don’t you?” Kate’s smug smile was replaced by something else, something I couldn’t quite put a finger on. 

“No. You wrote your testimonial when you burned down a house with eleven innocent people locked inside it. You supplemented it further when you caught and tortured Derek like that sadistic little vulture that you are. I would not even go into your little issue regarding your penchant for kidnapping people.”

“Are you really bothered about all these or just one thing?” Kate was smiling again. Suddenly I realized what had been nagging me the entire time we had been having this conversation. Kate did not look like the serial killing psycho, but she seemed in control. She was cool and collected even while I was hurling insults at her. Add to that the fact that she was keeping me inside an ordinary house in a suburban locality and still dad and others hadn't been able locate me. Yet she seemed to be updated about the activities of my pack, had been taking pictures even. I realized with a jolt she had changed or had changed her tactics. It was a different and probably more dangerous Kate we were dealing with. The Kate that I knew would not kidnap a kid and wait for three months for somebody to fetch her. She would take action, that usually involved a lot of blood and gore. This Kate was more of a spider than a jaguar. This Kate would weave a net of lies and deceit and would wait, patient and silent, until the unsuspecting prey walked right into the trap!  
She was rambling off while I had drifted away, but now I tried to focus. I needed to make her talk more in the hope that she slipped anything.

“…should have known. It is hard not to fall for those pretty eyes.” I zoned in at the same time Kate’s eyes snapped to mine. “I fell for them you know? I, a hunter, bound by oath to scourge the earth of the monsters…I.fell.for.him.”

Ok, that explains a lot and oh...wait…what???

“That is probably the reason I hate him so much, that I want to destroy that body that was my undoing.” Kate let out a nervous laugh. “It is because I want to do things to that body that is sinful and wrong. He made me lose my mind over his beauty…his fucking dazzling mesmerizing beauty.” She threw out the last five words though her gritted teeth like they were dirty.

I was staring at Kate with revulsion and horror and disbelief. It was the first time during our conversation that she was looking positively deranged.  
“Why did you kill his family if you loved him?” I asked dazed.

Kate let out another harsh laugh. “Love? Huh. That question alone is a testament to how young and naïve you are.” She shook her head. “I was not in love with Derek Hale. It was the other way round.”

“But you just said…”

“I felt an animal need to possess him, mind and body, even when I knew that I couldn’t have that for he was a fucking monster and so I destroyed him.” Kate growled. Her eyes flashed an iridescent gold and my back was glued to the wall once again.

“Oh but you couldn’t.” I said gleefully. Well, I sure had a death wish now. “Whatever unholy thing you have for Derek, you can now shove it up your ass and forget about it for he has won. You haven’t been able to break his spirit.”

“We are going to rectify that pretty soon.” Kate smirked. Why was it so difficult to bait her now-a-days? I was pretty sure I would have my throat slit the moment the words came out of my mouth.

“He.is.not.coming.for.me.” I enunciated each word carefully. “It’s been three months.”

“Oh, but he will.” Kate started to saunter away. “Trust me he will.” She threw over her shoulder.

“So the session is over?” I called out. “May be you could arrange for a couch next time? Better be comfortable while we are at it?”

Kate huffed out a laugh before exiting.

Once the door locked from the outside I sagged down and put my head between my knees. Too many information to process, but I wanted to categorize them in my mind into bullet points.

1) My friends were doing ok.  
2) They had apparently forgotten about me and moved on.  
3) Derek hadn’t come barging to rescue me so either he was not bothered or he couldn’t track me down and both the possibilities were dreadful. (I hope he was not fighting any supernatural shit again and was dead or wounded or de-aged or impaled by an iron rod or caught and tortured – well with Derek, the possibilities were indeed endless)  
4) Kate was acting all calm and collected and it was like a different Kate altogether and frankly this new Kate was scaring me shitless.  
5) Kate had somehow managed to spy on my friends and had been at the school cafeteria without being detected. (always a bad sign when the enemy has more intel than you)  
6) Kate showed her vulnerable side to me which none of us thought to exist. However, I didn’t know if it would have worked with anybody, but with me, it got only one reaction – I was 100% sure that she was playing me, for reasons unknown.  
7) Derek hadn’t come to my rescue though he frequented my dreams and my nightmares.  
8) I hadn’t seen Derek for three months.  
9) Derek…I could not breathe…

I sobbed into the cold floor, ignoring the dirty mattress that was my bed now…and the trail of thought was lost. I missed him so goddamn much and the last time I saw him the asshole betrayed my trust. The entire pack might forget me and I would not care, but I knew two people would never stop looking, other than dad of course. But the picture of contentment shoved into my face with my brother laughing with the new pack member was telling another tell.

And Derek…oh God…no, no…it was good that he was not looking for me, unwittingly walking into the trap Kate had set up for her. Even though he WAS stronger now, I was certain Kate would find a way to hurt him. Kate always found a way to hurt Derek…it was her specialty.

Don’t come – I begged…and I think fate was listening.

Because nobody did!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The kudos are much appreciated. Would love to have some comments too...


	12. The things we swear by

Stiles POV:

So this was how it was supposed to end. I felt cheated. It was not much exciting to die on the linoleum floor of a mad house while the evil Dread Doctors gloated above us. I almost laughed at the blatant cliché. But here I was...and so were they!

I knew Theo Raeken was bad news from day one, but would they listen? I really missed those times when the only problems we had to counter were a Peter gone rogue or Scott following around Allison like a puppy leaving me out in the cold or in eight feet deep chilling water (with a 200 pound snarling werewolf attached to my body), or the time when the only person ever accosted me in the dark alleys threatening to do irreparable damage to my body was Derek Hale. Instead I had to deal with a wendigo and a chimera and what not! I would have preferred Derek growling obscenities at me when my hands didn’t stop shaking after I impaled Donovan at the school library.

“Shut up and drive.” I could almost hear him say. “Or a wendigo will seem a tame housecat next to me.”

As it happened, without Derek or Chris Argent, we were just a bunch of children without adult supervision. Deaton really didn’t count for he just wore a perpetually mystified look throughout while things in general had steadily gone from bad to worse.

.....

Scott was not talking to me. It was pretty much like my dream. He did not believe I killed Donovan in self defence. I knew it was Theo poisoning him, but I was angrier with Scott more than with him for giving in to manipulation so easily. Malia had run off with Braeden in search of Desert Wolf, her supposed mother, in order to kill her. Liam, as I heard from Mason, had tried to kill Scott in a fit of rage over the death of his girlfriend Hayden.

The pack was disintegrating.

A bunch of teenagers were kidnapped and experimented upon by the Dread Doctors and when the experiments failed, they were killed off with mercury injections. We could do nothing but stand and watch. Deputy Jordan Parrish was still having blackouts and nobody had any idea what he was. The smug bastard Theo, who turned out to be a chimera, resurrected some of the murdered teens to create a rag-tag supernatural pack with him as the alpha. A menacing beast was haunting the abandoned water treatment plant at the edge of the city. Deaton thought it was the beast of Gévaudan, a famed bloodthirsty werewolf, whose only purpose of existence centred on killing. 

Finally, my Roscoe seemed to have breathed his last a few days back. 

I had to do something for not doing anything, not being able to talk to Scott, not finding any clue about Vi...and Derek who was conspicuous only by his absence – all these were eating at me. 

So while Scott and others were busy with other issues (about which I had no clue whatsoever) I decided it was time to rescue Lydia form Eichen House. She had been admitted there by her mother after she had been found in the BH Reserve by Deputy Parrish, catatonic and completely unresponsive. I had tried to talk to her mother a number of times, but she was fixated with the idea that we, her friends, were ultimately responsible for her condition and that the Eichen House was the only place she would be safe at.

During my last visit there, I had managed to pick up an access card from the pocket of one of the employees. I knew I had 24 hours before the card would be automatically de-activated. It was a broad window of time and it definitely left room for improvement, but to think of it, who in their right mind would break into a madhouse willingly!

It was well past midnight when I started scaling the outer wall. I had borrowed an interesting crossbow from Chris Argent sometime back which had belonged to Allison. It was only 12-inch long and was foldable, but had the force of a mini harpoon thrower. I had aimed at a tree trunk just inside the compound. I went up without incident before climbing down the tree. I had a couple of steaks laced with sedative for the guard dogs who, thankfully seemed nowhere to be seen.  


It was sleepy and quiet and only a skeleton staff working so far into the night. I used every bit of information I had gathered during my stay here and utilised them to my advantage. For example I knew just how to move inside without being detected by the security cameras or how creating a ruckus by throwing a stone at a garden-facing glass window would have the reception area cleared in two minutes for everybody would rush to the window to see what was wrong. I slipped inside the bowels of Eichen House, the floor reserved for the supernatural entities only, of which there was actually no official record.

I went straight towards the cell that was the new address of Lydia Martin, ignoring the snarls or pathetic whimpers of the locked inmates on my both side.  


I swapped my access card, slid open the glass door and rushed by her side. She was deathly pale and she held herself unnaturally still, hell, she was not even blinking. I gently probed the side of her skull and there it was, just as I feared, a fresh trepanation hole behind her right ear. I didn’t even try to wake her up, but just gathered her in my arms and exited the cell. So far I had not encountered a single guard. I knew guards in Eichen house were basically quite lazy and at night they hardly ever bothered to make rounds. But I didn’t know how far our good luck would hold.

Suddenly the overhead lights began to flicker and a couple of lights burst into flames, leaving the corridor semi dark. I heard voices and the sound of scampering of feet above me. I quickly hid in the shadow behind the staircase, crouching low. Another light bulb near me burst and suddenly the temperature dropped drastically. A fog like smoke rolled down from the upper floor, engulfing the place. Between the flickering lights and fog the visibility was reduced greatly and we had a real chance to escape. I tried to wake Lydia up. The feeling of something was wrong was almost buzzing under my skin. I shook her and even tried a couple of slaps, but nothing seemed to be working.

Suddenly an orderly who was passing by dropped down in a crouch and spotted us. He grinned, showing yellow teeth. His eyes were on the unconscious form of Lydia and the way he licked his lips made me want to murder the man. He had a syringe in his hand and he approached slowly, like one approaches a cornered animal. I held my hand up in a gesture of surrender, but had my crossbow ready on the floor so that I could pick it up in a nano-second. The more he advanced, the tenser I became. Finally, when he was just a feet away something shoved me sideways and before I hit the ground, I heard Lydia scream.

There was no way to describe it for it was inhuman. It seemed like my ears were bleeding and my brain would burst out of the skull in vibration. The orderly hit the wall with a force as if he was shot at a close range and fell down in a heap. After the scream died down I got up slowly from my cowering position and looked at Lydia.

“Stiles.” She said weakly.

I immediately enveloped her into a hug. 

“Let us go.” I said and tugged at her hand. Lydia stood up and wobbled a bit. We came out of the hiding place and began to climb up the staircase.  


We had only climbed a couple of steps while they made their appearance. There were three of them, clad in leather garments and their face were covered with weird masks with all sort of pipes and tubes attached to them. They were like apparitions. They flickered on and off and they hummed, like a projection.  


We backed down one step at a time.

“Ah the banshee and the void.” One of them said. It was like a bad radio transmission and not an actual human voice at all.

“What do you want?” I tried to fight down the blatant panic. Their pace was slow and deliberate for they seemed to be so sure nothing could come in their way. It was bone-chilling to say the least.

“We came here for the supernatural creatures. You are among them.”

“No,” I stood in front of Lydia. “We are not your pet projects.”

“Don’t make this difficult.” They were in my personal space now, crowding us against the wall.

I raised the crossbow in response, aiming right at the head of the one who was the closest.

Before I could pull the trigger, he backhanded me and I went flying across the room. The back of my head hit the wall painfully and I thought I heard the sound of the bone crunching (hopefully not a major one). Lydia screamed and rushed by my side. She knelt down, pulling my head on her lap.

“No...no Stiles...”

I could do nothing but just watched in slow motion as one of them approached us with what looked like a long and thick injection syringe. I could not feel my limbs...

So this was how it was supposed to end...

"Dad, I am going to Eichen house. Don’t be too mad. I think they are planning to do a trepanation on Lydia. If I don’t come back by the time you reach home in the morning, please look for me over there."

That was the note I had stuck on the door of the refrigerator before going out. That would be all what would be left of me!

They say your whole life is supposed to flash before your eyes immediately before you die. But I could remember my life only from a single point as it seemed my entire being pivoted on a single moment that changed me, changed us and brought all these on myself and my friends...the adventure into the forest at the night and Scott getting bitten! And I remembered Derek Hale – being obnoxious and unpleasant and many other things beside...I was just thankful he turned out to be such a douche; he made it SO VERY easy to hate him.

And I hate him, I hate him, I hate him! I hate that I was dying and what it would do to our father. I hated that I would never be able to rescue Vi, be the brother that she deserved, I hated the fact I couldn’t save Lydia who was watching, wide-eyed in horror as death or fate even worse than death loomed over us. I hated Derek for leaving and not coming down claws and fangs flashing to save the day...I did text him didn’t I and I did say ‘please.’ And why was that I was thinking about Derek when I had so many other issues to worry about, barring my death, which was pretty certain at this moment. Derek was not there and I tried to shoo his images from my mind... WHY WAS I THINKING ABOUT HIM...

Lydia was crying and calling my name and my heart was breaking all over again...but everything was just so blurry. I tried to keep my eyes open, taking in as much as I could before giving in. I tried to make sense of the chaos surrounding us...first there were incoherent sounds and then one of the Dread Doctors standing at the periphery of my vision was down on his knees and was that smoke coming out of one of the torn tubes attacked with the mask? The one approaching us was no longer there. What the hell was happening? I frowned. Then there was a loud snarl and something crashed against the wall exactly like I had done a few moments ago. I smiled wanly...for that reminded me of someone...

“Derek?” Lydia whispered. Shut up – I frowned! Since when did a banshee become a mind reader...try to stick to your niche for it was too damn confusing already.  


“Derek.” Lydia screeched and I winced in pain for she dropped my head and leapt up. The silence following her screech was so potent that I forced myself to roll over on my stomach and craned my neck.

There was a lot of smoke and there were weird black spots dancing at the edge of my vision, but I could make out the vague outline of a figure emerging from it...a tall human figure. The Doctors were...gone!

“Derek.” Lydia screamed again and she jumped right into the solid wall of muscles and purple Henley. Why was he wearing purple, I vaguely thought and I almost giggled as Derek caught her easily and if he got a couple of ribs fractured at the force of the hug he totally had it coming...and our Lydia, strong, proud and beautiful Lydia, just wrapped herself around him, like a vice, clutching at his ridiculous purple shirt and sobbed...like a lost baby. And just like that the world was alright again, like it was somewhat skewed before and it was balanced now. Something had fallen into the place. 

I couldn’t feel the odd itch anymore.

I rested my chin on the floor and smiled again as Derek’s hesitant hands, which were balled by his side, relaxed bit by bit and went round Lydia, patting her shoulders, touching the back of her head, carefully, tentatively...fondly. Well, I was going to end up being a very happy corpse. Definitely an open-casket funeral for me!

...

Several things happened when I opened my eyes. My dad and Lydia who were sitting right beside me jumped up in unison.

“He is awake,” Lydia said.

“I would call the doctor,” dad ran outside.

Well, well, well...I was not dead after all. Such a shame for I was sure it was a beautiful way to die when an avenging angel took upon himself to rescue you single-handedly. The angel who was now peeking through the door and coming inside and walking towards your now-so-familiar-I-should-totally-keep-one-reserved-just-in-case hospital bed with a stoic expression on his face, like he didn’t care at all if you lived or died...speaking to you in a voice that you despaired of hearing again...oh right speaking!

“What?” I asked confused. Derek was talking to me, I could see the lips moving, but I couldn’t hear anything.

“I said how are you feeling?” Is it possible or fair to roll your eyes when you were talking to an invalid?

Derek Hale was asking me how I was feeling with only a wee bit of eye-roll and zero hostility or sarcasm and his forehead crunched when I just moved my mouth and no sound escaped. Well, this was getting embarrassing! Derek and Lydia hovering at my bedside...together...this was beyond my wildest fantasy...this was my idea of heaven, and here I was ruining the moment by playing deaf and mute.

“Hey stop crowding him,” barked a doctor from the doorway earning my everlasting gratitude. As if he was sure the duo wouldn’t listen he physically shoved the two of them aside to take position beside me, throwing a glare at Derek’s direction. Well, you could not really blame the guy. A psychopathic killer look-alike gone soft still looked like a psychopathic killer (gone soft). Derek took a step back, but then of course he glared back at the good doctor. What could I say, our favourite wolf-man had a rep to live up to. 

Scott chose the exact moment to burst into the room and stopped short at the door. Someone should have given him a lollipop or Allison for he looked ready to burst into tears any moment. Oh wait...Allison was dead. The dull pain at the back of my head intensified and I wanted to retch. Derek shot forward before anybody could react and shoved a hand under my neck. Thank God for the full-sleeved Henley (stupid purple Henley, and why was I hung over on the colour again?) for the doctor was already looking at his hand like he was about to stab it with a scalpel. If he could see the black veins as he took away my pain, he could have acted upon his thought and totally severed the hand from Derek’s body.

“Derek?” From Scott’s shocked exclamation I gathered he hadn’t even noticed him until now.

“What...how did you know?”

“I saw the missing person poster at the petrol pump. It was three months old.” Derek said. “I drove straight to their house to find out if she had been found or not. Nobody was home, but I went in to investigate anyway.” Derek sighed. “I saw a note from Stiles on the door of the refrigerator.”

Several emotions passed Scott’s face ranging from guilt, anger and hurt to warm gratitude and he took a couple of long strides to enfold Derek in a giant hug.  


Derek went utterly still while Scott generously sniffed on the older man’s shoulder, staining the purple Henley...purpler, if that is an actual word (well, there I went again...why was I so fixated on the stupid Henley!!!). 

“I thought you would never come back.” Scott abruptly pulled off and stared at Derek somewhat accusingly.

“I...um...did.” Derek said eloquently, sounding so damn confused that I bit back a laugh.

Scott clapped his shoulders. “Thanks man,” he smiled dopily, something I hadn’t seen on him for a long long time. “I am glad you did.” Derek looked at Scott’s hands only once and made no comment or tried to sever the offending limbs. Improvements! 

“Imao glad.” I slurred. “Please give me a hug too Derek...while you are at it.” Derek raised a silent eyebrow at me. 

The doctor ignored the sideshow and proceeded to examine me, for possible brain damage.

It was Melissa who herded everybody from the room and set up the morphine drip afterwards. Before drifting away to a pleasant drowsiness I went over three things on my mind:

a) Now we had a real chance to find Vi. No matter how efficiently the police was searching for her, somehow having Derek with us felt like the odds were in our favour, after a long time.  
b) I would demand a Derek-hug the moment I got down from the hospital bed since he had been handing them down so freely now (what the hell? I mean what happened to our prickly sourwolf??? I hoped it was not alien invasion for residing inside that body might be tempting right, even the aliens could see the appeal and now it was the morphine talking...not me...I would never drool/gape/swallow/lick my lips/stare at the frigging body and the frigging face and whatever consisted of Derek Hale!)  
c) Derek Hale was uppermost in my mind the moment I thought I was going to die.  
d) Derek was the common theme of the last three points! (What?)

....

“Derek, are you ok?” It sounded like Melissa as I fought through the drowsiness, hovering between a conscious and unconscious stage. Why wouldn’t he be ok? I struggled to open my eyes but discovered I did not have the strength and so I just concentrated on the whispered conversation.

“You need to go home and get some sleep.” She was using her admonishing tone now. “You haven’t had a wink of sleep since he was brought here.”  


“I was not here when it happened. I should have answered Scott. I was too late.” I heard Derek sigh quietly with a silent it-is-all-my-fault implied somewhere. Well, that was Derek for you. The man would blame himself even if a bolt of lightning decided to descend from the sky and strike Beacon Hills someday. It was a talent really.

“You were just in time to save them. Stiles is going to be ok.” Melissa assured.

“Yes, but he got hurt. There is a goddamn hole in Lydia’s skull. Vi has gone missing. So many kids have died – needlessly. It’s all so messed up.” Derek sounded frustrated.

“Hey, when are things all bright and cheerful for you guys?” God, Melissa, seriously? Way to cheer up a person suffering from...wait, I didn’t even have a name for the thing Derek was suffering from. 

However, Melissa had not finished. “You guys always appear triumphant beating down impossible odds. Always.”

“Not all of us.” Mumbled Derek.

There was a shocked silence before Melissa spoke again.

“No, not all of you.” Her voice was gentle and firm. “Precisely why you need to fight on. For they sacrificed their lives so that others can live. The least you can do is to seize the gift of life they have given you and try to live as much as possible. Appreciate it while you are at it.”

I didn’t need to open my eyes to know Derek was staring at Melissa with his heart pouring out from his widened eyes, a heart that was heavy with burden...almost too much for an ordinary man to bear, but then, Derek Hale was NOT an ordinary man!

“Thanks,” he muttered after what seemed like a century. Since when had Derek become this quiet, this introvert and since when had he started muttering and mumbling and stammering instead of his default settling of growling the shit out of everybody? I didn’t like this new Derek. He seemed too defeated.  


“I don’t understand.” He suddenly blurted out, like he didn’t mean to, like he was not even aware he was talking out aloud, but he did anyway in a moment of weakness.

“What honey?” 

Derek was either stunned at the term of endearment or he deliberated really long before answering: “I...when I...well...why are people hugging me?”  


What?

“Lydia...she hugged me, back there, and then Scott and then the Sheriff and then even Chris looked like he was about to, but then he just thought better of it.” 

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Of all the things that he could be puzzling over, THIS was what nagged him the most??? And people say I was ridiculous?

“Well, the answer happens to be very simple.” I could hear the smile in Melissa’s voice. “They missed you. They are very glad you came back.” After a pause she said, “I am glad you came back.” Yes Derek, listen to the voice of calm reason for once. That is what friends do. They miss each other, they bicker and then they make up and they make each other’s life impossible and they sometimes want to rip each other’s throat...but eventually all is forgiven. That is what friends do...that is what a Pack does!

“Thank you.” Derek said in a tone which sounded overly formal but I knew this was a tone he used when he was trying to mask his emotion.


	13. Mineral spirit

**Vi's POV:**

My hands would not stop shaking when I inserted the metal tab that I had broken from the soda bottle into the groove of the screw that secured the metal plate to the wall. The same metal plate that had a ring attached to it through which my chains had been threaded in order to attach them to the wall. I had been careful when I had broken the tab from the soda bottle and had hid it in my pocket for Marco was watching me like a hawk the entire time I ate.

Marco was an ex-hunter, Kate had informed me glibly by the way of introduction and definitely a human. But he was into different things nowadays, as per Kate. The man was bulky and impossibly creepy and scared me even more than Kate and that was saying something. It was probably because of the looks that he kept of throwing towards my direction.

I had started fiddling with the screw long time after the house went quiet and I assumed it was dead into the night.

God my hands were shaking so much that I dropped the damn thing a thousand time before the first screw started to loosen up. It rotated once, twice - and before the triumph washed over me in waves I heard the door opening and Kate sauntered down.

"You are so cute." Kate cooed, standing with hands on her hips.

I tried to hid the tab in my palm, but Marco came down after Kate, strode purposefully towards me and wrench it away from my hand, twisting it painfully in the process. He had raised his hand to punch me in the face when Kate growled.

"Hold it." Marco lowered his hand and looked over at her. "I have other plans for little Miss sunshine here."

I didn't know how they knew, but this incident made me fairly certain what I suspected sometime back. There was a hidden CCTV camera somewhere.

"What plans?" I croaked undignifiedly when Kate continued to smirk at me.

"Oh you will see. Right now, there will be no food and water for your tomorrow for this little stunt."

That was it? I was incredulous. I thought I would get beaten black and blue or hoped she would kill me in a fit of rage.

"I am not as black a villain as you think I am." Kate, it seemed could read my mind. "I am going to teach you to learn my ways."

"I would rather be a fucking rotting corpse than be like you." I snarled at her.

But she just smiled and went upstairs, securing the door after her.

**Stiles's POV:**

Scott and I watched with baited breath while Derek delicately sniffed the air. We were at a narrow alley which connected the main road with the Freeway. Vi’s scent had suddenly disappeared near it. We hoped Derek would find some clue where others failed. Therefore even though my right arm was in a cast and my broken rib hadn't healed, here I was, against the vehement protests from Scott (dad thought I was in my room, resting) for I would not miss this for my life. I owed that much to my sister.

Suddenly Derek’s head whipped round.

“You don’t smell it?”

“What?” Scott demanded.

Derek took a few strides and went flat on the ground, sniffing the pavement.

“Do you smell anybody? Somebody familiar?”

“No.” Derek rose to his feet. “Not somebody...something.” He looked at Scott. “The entire area stinks of mineral spirit.”

“Mineral spirit?” I echoed.

“Yes. It has a pretty strong smell. It doesn’t go off easily even though it seems it has not rained since Vi was taken. But considering it is outdoors, it should have disappeared by now.”

“So why hasn’t it?”

“Because the walls as well as the pavement have been doused with it. It had been used in an overwhelming quantity.” Derek’s forehead crunched. He was examining the walls flanking both sides of the alley.

“Well isn’t it used as paint thinner?” I intervened. “These walls don’t exactly seem to have been repainted or anything.”

Derek shot a profoundly unimpressed look at me, something along the line of ‘no shit Sherlock’.

“So...why, I mean, I get it people may have strong, completely irrational urges, I mean WE should be the last person to be judgey about it but what kind of person would just douse a random alley with paint thinner and why. I mean it is not that I have anything against freedom of using paint thinner as or when required or not required, based on the current situation –”

I didn’t even realise I was rambling loudly until Derek cut me off.

“So the question you are trying to find answer to is why would anybody douse an open area with a substance which has a strong odour that will suppress the traces of all others?”

“Or...yes, that is one way to put it.” Derek pinned me with a glare.

“Why do you think?” He asked challengingly.

“So that we don’t catch any lingering smell?” Scott asked.

“Why would I be bothered about lingering smells? A normal human would not be able to scent out Vi or her kidnapper or find any clue by olfactory senses alone.” I suddenly realized Derek was trying to let us puzzle it out while he already had an answer in his head.

“No, they wouldn’t.” I said. “The kidnapper or kidnappers were counting on the fact we would be looking for her and they know she has werewolf friends.” The absolute certainty of my voice made both Scott and Derek stare at me.

“What else do you deduce?” Derek asked softly.

“We had already guessed that they had a car which was waiting on the other side of the alley. So the trail runs cold as it is for it is not possible to follow Vi’s smell if she was shoved into the trunk of the car. It would be too faint.” I was on a roll there and Derek’s brow slowly unfurled. He was not exactly smiling, but very close to it.  


“And?” He prompted me.

“So the only reason for the chemical overload is that the kidnapper was waiting here and they wanted to suppress THEIR smell, which I guess would be familiar to either one of you or probably Malia.” I finished confidently. “Anything else I am missing?” I challenged Derek back.

“Well, yes. You see mineral spirit does have a high flash point and so it is not that much flammable, but it is a petroleum by-product, easily available in large quantity and once ignited it would burn like any other petroleum based substance. So it might not be an arsonist’s favourite instrument, but if I were one, I would have used it for it served the purpose and it has a strong connection with the products that I PREFER to use.” Derek levelled a steely gaze at me and continued.

“Can you think of such a person holding a grudge against us who can possibly kidnap Vi and who has a history of kidnapping and would have a reason to suppress their scent so that we can’t identify this person?”

Like hell I could for it was the easiest to answer!


	14. The eternal darkness of heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Graphic violence/torture

Kate held out a couple of Chinese daggers to me and I knew these weapons. I had seen Allison practise with them and had dabbled with them myself a bit.

“Be wild. Whatever anger you are feeling towards me, take it out on it.”

I looked at the punching bag Marco had hung from the ceiling, the latest ornament gracing my basement.

“What?” I was completely bewildered.

“Hold them. Feel their power. You may have to use them in near future.” Kate grinned.

“Have you gone mad? Wait, that was a rhetorical question. I mean more than the usual?”

“Well, what have you got to lose? At least it will be a good stress-busting exercise, isn’t it?”

The thing was I didn’t trust Kate for a single moment, but I was going crazy in my mind between the stress and constant inactivity. I held out my hands, palms upwards and Kate placed the sharp weapons on them. They had rings at the end of short handles and the blades were approximately four inches and sharpened on both edges. I poked my index fingers through the rings and rotated them a couple of times. 

“It is all yours.” Kate swung the punch bag towards me.

I didn’t know what she wanted to achieve by this or what her deal was, but at that moment I really didn’t care. 

After an hour there was only the carcass of a punching bag with a heap of shredded foam underneath. Marco had sat patiently, out of my reach unfortunately, the entire time. He called Kate to take away the daggers from my hand.

“Can I keep them?” I asked hopefully.

“Sweetie,” Kate wore an ultra-bright face. “You will get a new punching bag tomorrow. But you will play only under adult supervision.”

That day I slept without dreams and woke up next morning quite refreshed.

The next three days Kate repeated the routine. Sometimes she would amble over and showed me to grip it properly or to advice me the right angle which will cause the maximum damage. I liked it and started to look forward for the time I would be able to stab viciously at a punching bag, gut it completely, spilling the content on the floor.

On the fourth day Kate brought a kid with her and she was wearing pencil skirt and a flowery top. The girl couldn’t be more than five. She had chubby cheeks and dimples and...then it went bad.

Kate slashed her throat in front of me...with her claws.

I screamed.

Next day she handed me the daggers and I attacked her. She slapped me and two of my molars came out loose.

The next day Kate brought two kids, same age, one boy and one girl. She was wearing a dress this time. They seemed happy enough.

But I screamed again. The kids scampered above, squealing in fear. 

The next day somebody came for me or so Kate led me to believe. I was surprised at Scott’s audacity for it was broad daylight.

“Listen very carefully,” Kate pressed the daggers into my hand. Today she was wearing leather, including black leather gloves. “I am going to take you to the kitchen window. Your friend is coming through it. You would stab him on the sides and take him down.”

I stared at Kate feeling totally sure she had finally snapped and lost her mind altogether. But she just smiled coldly at me.

“Remember the twins I brought down here? I would slit their throat one by one. I would leave the door open so that you can hear them scream.”  
“No,” I said, terrified on behalf of the children.

“Then do as I say. Remember, clean and vicious stroke, thirty degree angle, just below the ribs. Don’t forget to rotate them in for a little bit of extra fun.”  
“I am not going to stab Scott or anybody.”

Kate extended her claw and examined it carefully. “It is good that I have two to kill. You would like me to do one right now? Just for practise?” She levelled a cold gaze at me.

I swallowed thickly. I was almost sure whoever was coming out of the window was a werewolf so he would heal. The children upstairs on the other hand would die.

I held out my hands for the dagger.

“Remember if he doesn’t get down and come for me or for you, at least one of those children will die.”

“How do you know he would come through the back window.”

“Because there is a line of mountain ash all around our perimeter, except for the back window.” Kate smiled. “Remember, don’t let him come to me. I don’t want to kill children, at least not so early in the morning.”

She unlocked my manacles and the chain fell with a clutter on the floor. I was free for the first time in last three months and I had a couple of weapons. However it would do little good against the strength of a were-jaguar or an ex-hunter. Besides there were those kids.

I followed Kate meekly out of the basement. It seemed like a common passage with a staircase leading towards the first floor. There was a door on the other side of the passage. Kate held the door open for me.

“The show is all your.” She smirked and turned back on her heels.

I took a deep breath and entered into the kitchen. First I checked for a telephone, when I found none, I went ahead to randomly open and close the drawers and cupboards. 

I didn’t know what exactly I was looking for.

Then I heard the noise, of somebody pulling up the window screen from outside. I tensed with the daggers held close to my chest. My heart pounded in my chest cavity. I hope whoever it was would know it was me and wouldn’t kill me for stabbing them.

I waited. A minute was gone and nothing happened.

“Oh shit,” I exclaimed as I retreated from the room, out into the open corridor. I stopped for a moment and heard the sound of a glass shattering from upstairs. I took two steps at a time. If Scott (I was assuming it would be Scott) came across Kate first, she would surely kill one of the kids.

On the first floor also, there was an open passage. I opened the first door – nothing, except an ordinary room with ordinary furniture. I tried the second and bumped right into...

I plunged the knives to the hilt even before it registered who it was for he was definitely a werewolf though only partially shifted. 

Derek screamed and fell down on his back, the handles of the daggers with iron rings grotesquely sticking out on both sides of his naval, soaking his shirt crimson.

“Derek...” I didn’t even have the time to apologise when Marco was already behind me, dragging Derek down the corridor, down the staircase and finally to the basement. I followed helplessly, wringing my hands.

Derek had finally come for me and I had stabbed him. I didn’t even know how to process it in my mind.

...

“Cut out a piece of flesh from his side and give it to me.” Kate held out the daggers to me which she had taken out only after securing Derek’s hands above him in metal cuffs. The setting was all so familiar when she had trapped him and tortured him for days at the basement of Hale house. The electrocuting machine was there, but instead of his side, it connected to a leather collar this time that was tightly secured around Derek’s throat. Kate had ripped open his shirt and I winced at the sight of the black veins that were radiating from his stab wounds even after the blades were taken out. Wolfsbane! I wanted to stab myself now.

“You are insane.” I spat at her, tucking my hands under my armpits.

Marco picked up a shotgun and pointed right at Derek’s heart.

“Be a good girl Vi. Just like I trained you to do.” Derek stirred and his eyes fluttered open. I heaved a sigh of relief. At least he was alive, up to now.  
“Don’t test my patience sweetie.” Kate growled.

“If you kill him you won’t have any leverage on me.” I said defiantly.

“True. But do you really want poor Derek to die to prove your point?” Kate smirked.

“You will kill us anyway.” Marco took a shot and my hand flew to my mouth, my startled cry muffled half-way.

I rushed to Derek and threw my arms around Derek's neck. The bullet had barely brushed past him to lodge itself into the wall.

“Get out of the way Vi.” Derek snarled. “Just let her get it done with.”

“No,” I whimpered and gripped him tighter, burying my face in his chest.

“The next one is going through you, unfortunately.” 

“I don’t appreciate your touch right at this moment.” Derek spat at me. I startled and tilted my head to look into his eyes, which were cold as glistening marbles.  


“Derek...” I whispered, shocked at the venom in his voice.

“Just move away. Ok? Is it too much to ask? You.disgust.me.” My eyes widened for a fraction, but I wordlessly shook my head and went back to my former position. A resigned sigh raked through his body.

“Well should I do a countdown to make it more dramatic?” Kate asked in an innocent tone.

“Vi move.” Derek roared right into my ears. I flinched, but held my ground.

Kate exhaled audibly.

“Well, it is going exactly the way I thought.” She sounded amused. “Marco, I give you permission to be creative.”

“No...” Derek’s roar resounded through his body as I felt myself yanked away by my hair with such brutal force that my eyes teared up.

“Creative...huh?” Marco held me at an uncomfortable angle and licked one side of my cheek. A violent shudder went through my body.

Derek had gone mad in his restraint and Kate chose this time to switch on the electrocuting machine and Derek’s roar turned into screams of absolute agony as I watched her, from the corner of my eyes to yank up the voltage to the maximum degree.

“Leave her...let her be...anything...” Derek gasped between the screams. 

“What did you say?” Kate cupped a hand over one ear.

“I...would...do...anything” Derek bit out each word like he was taking his last breath.

“But you are not to be trusted Derek.” Kate said sweetly. “You are now a big bad wolf. The moment you get a chance you would rip my throat.”

“No...”

“Ok for the sake of argument we don’t kill you, but just keep this adorable Miss Sunshine in Marco’s custody, somewhere you can never find her. What are you willing to do in exchange of her safety?”

“No, Derek...don’t you dare. She is going to kill us both.” I sobbed brokenly when Marco slapped me across my face, drawing blood.

“Shut up bitch. I won’t kill you. I have other plans for you.”

“Did you hear that Derek?” Kate smiled at Derek again.

“Marco has plans. Usually it doesn’t end well for he is creative and he likes to use pointy and sharp things.”

Derek’s speech was garbled and Kate reduced the current flow. Derek’s body was still shuddering, but less violently now.

“What do you want from me Kate?” Derek asked hoarsely.

“Oh no...if that is the attitude you would like to adapt,” Kate looked at Marco who yanked at my hair again to pull me towards the staircase. “Maybe a few screams from the girl would prompt you answer more carefully. What.do.you.have.to.offer?”

“Stop..stop...please” Derek shouted and there was pure panic in his voice. “Don’t hurt her. I told you Kate I would do anything.” Oh my God...now he was pleading. 

“Derek...don’t.” I whimpered.

“Honey you have to be more specific than that.” Kate examined her nails.

“I...I,” Derek swallowed audibly, “I will be your slave. I will please you in whatever way you need. I used to be GOOD at it.” And now I wanted to cover my ears and scream for Derek actually managed to sound seductive. 

“You will do that...won’t you?” Kate purred.

“Of couse.” Derek went on in the same low and gravelly tone. I wanted to throw up. “I would be your mutt...your bitch, whatever you need...whatever you want. Just don’t...just let her go.” His voice almost broke on the last three words.

I didn’t know the details of his past relationship with Kate. But the way Derek was uttering these promises, like he was used to it, like he had done it before, my blood froze over in my veins. I didn’t know how much of a death he must have been dying inside now to say those words.

“You wanted to kill him.” I screamed at Kate. “So why are you playing with him? Just kill both of us and get it over with.”

“Maybe I have changed my mind.” Kate chuckled darkly, her eyes roving over Derek’s bare torso. “How can I let this much of deliciousness go waste? Especially when nobody else seems to be coming for you?” She licked her lips.

“No, I am going to keep you alive. Both of you. For a while at least. You will keep Marco entertained while I will have my mutt –”

“I will rip you limb from limb and eat all the pieces.” Derek snarled at her. “All bets are off if that thing there hurts her.”

“Attitude Derek” Kate said sternly. “Or does Vi needs to go through some unpleasant experiences to have you learn about manners.”

I saw Derek curling in, shutting down on himself mentally, emotionally and just wiping out all outward sign of terror and panic and then his demeanour completely changed. When he opened his eyes, his face was a mask – stony and ice-cold.

“I am sorry Mistress.” Utter disdain dripped from each word even though they conveyed no emotion at all. “But my offers still stand. BOTH of them.”

“Well, then we understand each other perfectly. Marco, please take Vi upstairs and babysit her while I catch up with Derek here.” She flashed a grin. “Keep an eye on the live telecast from here so if Derek decides to get frisky, you would know what to do.”

Marco dragged me, thankfully not by the hair, but by the arms (though none too gently and there will be bruises I was sure) and before I could check my surroundings just threw me inside what looked like an oversized cupboard and locked the door from outside. 

I didn’t know if I imagined Derek’s screams or I could really hear them...


	15. The little red dot

Stiles’s POV:

“Stupid damn werewolves” I cursed loudly. I wanted to hit something. I wanted to bang my head against the steering wheel, voluntarily this time (Roscoe was back on her legs or in this case her wheels again, thank God for small favours).

Scott and I had told Derek to wait, that rushing into things headlong wouldn’t accomplish ANYTHING. But would the asshole listen? He just had to be the hero and go all by himself in search of Vi and probably getting killed right now by Kate and her minions for I was sure Vi’s presence alone would be a major handicap. What if Kate just waited for Derek with a claw at Vi’s neck and a gun with wolfsbane bullets pointed at him. For all his superhuman strength Derek would be able to do NOTHING!

I didn’t know what breakthrough he had found that he had to go out to investigate in the middle of the night and he couldn’t wait until Scott and I returned from New Mexico where we were heading with Kira and her mom to find the mysterious and deadly skinwalkers. We had not travelled 20 miles out of BH when Scott’s phone buzzed. 

“Something came up. Going to check it out. There is a phone on my desk at the loft. Follow instructions.” 

Well, brevity thy name is Derek Hale!

Scott was torn, but he finally opted to let me go and he went with Kira on her mission to find the skinwalkers who would supposedly be able to help her control her fox spirit.

I stormed into the said loft and found the said phone which was sitting on top of an A4 size paper with written instructions about how to turn on a certain application and use it to track a GPS-enabled microchip. There was a diagram even, of the said instrument, which looked like a tiny glass capsule.

I turned on the application anyway. It beeped to life and showed a flickering red point on a 3D map which looked like an advanced version of Google Earth. With a shock I realised it was a tracking chip and it was showing Derek’s location, hopefully, if he had not lost it on the way.

I zoomed out to see which place this was and was astonished to find it was in Beacon County itself and it was little bit over 500 miles away. However, instead of blindly running into the danger I decided to browse Derek’s laptop which was left open on a side table.

I remembered the conversation we had only a couple of days back at the loft after Derek made us convinced it was none other than Kate who had taken Vi.

“With the amount of time we have lost, Kate could have taken her anywhere by now, assuming it was Kate.” Lydia had pointed out.  


“It IS Kate.” Derek insisted. “I have a gut feeling about it.”

“But Lydia is right.” I muttered quietly. “It is such a long time and all trails had gone cold.”

“Not all trails.” Derek shook his head. “We still have the mineral spirits. But just think for one moment. What use Kate has for somebody like Vi! She won’t be interested in creating a pack. She would rather have mindless servants, like berserkers. What motive could she have for kidnapping Vi?”

“Maybe she wanted to use her as a defence against us?” Scott suggested. “She knows how much Vi means to everybody in the pack and Kate also knows you and Chris will be on her trail, trying to finish her off.”

“That actually makes sense.” Lydia sounded insultingly surprised.

“Kate uses people. That is what she does best.” I agreed and if Derek flinched slightly I pretended not to notice.

“But that leaves us nowhere. She might have holed up anywhere on earth with my sister as her prisoner.”

“I highly doubt she will enjoy living on edge constantly.” Derek muttered. “What if she is just trying to lure us out? What if she actually wants us to follow her so that she can trap and kill us by some means, using Vi as the leverage?”

“That also makes sense.” Lydia said in a bored tone. “Except for that it still doesn’t help to find out about Vi’s whereabouts.”

“Well, I was going to suggest the security cameras.” I raised my hand.

“What security cameras?” Scott asked.

“Let us say I make a bulk purchase of mineral spirits and carry it in my car, I would definitely want to be discreet about it and I would want to buy it as close to my destination as possible for I wouldn’t want to carry unnecessary load for a time longer than necessary.”

“So you suggest we checkout security cameras of all shops that sell mineral spirit in Beacon Hills?” Derek raised his eyebrows. 

“Not ALL the shops. The malls – the Walmart types, which are large and impersonal. I think if a good-looking blonde saunters into a shop to buy an unnatural amount of paint thinner, the shop-owner would remember her. She would want to be discreet. It has to be the Walmart.”

“Or the Home Depot.” Lydia was browsing her phone. “There is one just off the freeway only half a mile away from the place Vi was kidnapped. In fact if I search within the 10-mile radius, ok, I will make it 20 mile, there are...one Home Depot and two Walmarts.”

“It is a long shot, but worth a try I guess.” I said and looked at Scott.

“Could your father have access to the security camera footage?” Derek asked.

“Sure. How many days we are talking about here?”

“My guess is she bought it on the way. We would start with the same day Vi was kidnapped and work backward. I guess we would need the footage for at least one month.”

Scott whistled. “That is a whale lot of footage.”

“We would take turns in watching. Divide it among us.” Lydia said. “And just to be on the safe side I think we should check out some retail hardware shops also, just in case.”

Thankfully everybody pitched in. Even Liam had come round and had apologised to Scott. Predictably Scott hugged him and Liam sniffed a little, looking like a lost puppy and then all was forgotten. Liam and Mason went home with an armful of CD to watch. It was a monotonous job, but it was better than doing nothing.  
So far, it yielded no result at all.

Therefore, I was really curious what Derek had found out.

He had three tabs open on his browser and one was a news search on recent animal attacks and unusual accidents in California and the second was a news channel website that showed the news of an armoured car robbery taken place roughly three months ago. It seemed the armoured car, which was carrying cash, was attacked by a mountain lion and it had veered off the road to hit a tree. The driver and two guards were mauled to their death. The local authorities puzzled over the fact briefly that the cash was missing, but they put it down to random passer-by looting it after the accident took place and the door of the armoured car being ripped open at the impact of the accident. The name of the place was the same as was flashing on the screen of Derek’s fancy mobile application.  


The third tab was a list of hardware shops or malls which sold mineral spirits in the town. Even though it was a much smaller town than BH, it was still a long list.  


Unfortunately today was one of those days if you know what I mean. The entire police force of BH including my dad was deployed at the old water treatment plant, along with Chris Argent in the wake of incidents regarding the spotting of a huge werewolf-like creature over there.

Liam and Mason had a test at school and I really didn’t want to drag them into this mess. 

Calling Lydia was out of question for she would insist upon coming and I was not sure she had recovered fully from whatever was done on her at Eichen house.

Derek had chosen a hell of a day for a rescue mission.

So I just cursed him and then cursed him some more. But I headed towards the place the little red dot was calling at me, like a tiny beacon of hope or a fragment of my worst nightmare! 

And then the red dot went off abruptly!

I broke all speed limits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave some comments. This is my first ever effort in writing. PLEASE do comment even if you don't like it. Constructive criticism is welcome...


	16. Monsters

Stiles's POV:

I parked a few meters away from the house. It looked like any ordinary two-storey house with a regular patch of lawn and a garden at the back. It almost bordered on the forest that stretched beyond it, vast and ominous. Except for the fact that the nearest house was at least 750-meter away, there was no outward sign that it could hold any dark secret inside it.

Standing behind a tree on the opposite side of the road I peeked at Derek’s phone again. The red dot hadn’t reappeared. The last time it made its location known, the signal came from the place the house is currently standing upon. I checked if there was any sign of life visible and when nothing became apparent, I decided to notch it up a bit.

I cursed only twice and that too, very mildly, before crossing the road casually and leaning over the small wooden gate. The fact that it was broad daylight made me a bit bold. Though it was isolated, it was not THAT isolated and if a furry, wild thing flung itself at me and slashed my throat it could not be done quietly. The road was not extremely busy, but there were a few cars, occasional cyclists and one of two rare pedestrians.

I opened the gate carefully and entered the premises. I ducked away from the front door, moving sideways instead and kept my body bent down and almost parallel to the ground. After reaching the back of the house, I plastered myself against the wall and was going to sneak past the back door which was made of glass when I suddenly looked at the ground and knelt down. I picked up a pinch of the grey powder circling the house and sniffed. Mountain ash. Kate or whoever was inside had circled the house with mountain ash!

My mind raced. What did it mean? Did it mean some crazy anti-werewolf people were there inside or God forbid one of those fanatic and bigoted gangs of hunters trying to prove a point? But they would have already made an example of Vi and not secretly hiding her as if in wait for something to happen. Also, Derek was so sure it was Kate, insisting time and again he had a gut feeling about it.

I closed my eyes and made myself think like Kate, even though it sickened me to the core. What would I do if I were her? I would want to trap Derek for a direct confrontation would probably kill me. Also, I would like to play with him after capturing him and rendering him helpless. I would kill him eventually, but not now, not right at this moment for I had waited for it and I would savour each moment of it even though it meant taking unnecessary risks. But he is so damn powerful so what would stop him from slashing my throat at the blink of an eye?

Suddenly the answer was blindingly clear to me. It might be Kate inside or some random group of hunters, but there would be one way to render a werewolf helpless.

I crawled across the back garden and climbed over the fence to retrieve some tools from my car and then I went to work.

 

Vi’s POV:

 

I couldn’t believe that for the first time after being kidnapped by Kate, my luck held as I gave the final twist to the keyhole with the butter knife I had stolen from the kitchen. Marco had forgotten to give me a patting down for they were too busy with Derek to notice.

I slipped out of the cupboard and froze when I heard squeals of laughter coming out from the next room. I tiptoed out and opened the door of the next room cautiously. Two astonished children were staring up at me. I put my finger over my lips the instant I thought one of them was going to scream.

“Hey.” I whispered, my heart beating frantically. “I am playing hide and seek. Please don’t tell Kate I am hiding here.”

The boy smiled and the girl looked suspiciously at me. Thankfully they didn’t scream. None of them looked harmed in any way, in fact they seemed to be completely and happily occupied with drawings and building blocks. The room looked like a children’s room, complete with a bunk bed and a few toys scattered here and there. I went over to the window and looked out. There was no sign of anybody outside. I didn’t know where Marco was, but I would have to take a risk. I made decisions quickly. 

“Hey, do you guys want to play something?” I tried to hide the slight tremor to my voice.

“What?” The girl frowned.

“Well, I will write a secret message and you have to deliver it.”

“To Kate?” The boy asked.

“No.” I said quickly. “Kate cannot know about it. It is a secret. You have to leave this house and walk down the road until you reach the next house. Then you have to hand over my secret massage to whoever is there and wait until Kate picks you up.”

“Well that sounds boring.” The girl didn’t look convinced.

“What if I give you ice cream if you can finish the task without letting aunt Kate know.”

“Kate is not our aunt.” The girl cut me off. “She is our teacher, from the school.”

Oh God! Well, I would dwell on that later. I offered her a smile that hopefully didn’t look like a mad woman.

“I am sorry. Of course she is your teacher. So what do you think of the game.”

“Kate hasn’t let us out even once since we came here.” The boy whined. “Come on Liz, let’s do this thing. It will be fun.”

Liz looked at me critically and pointed her little finger. “Don’t forget that ice cream.”

“I won’t.” I crossed my heart.

“Ok.” She nodded.

I couldn’t help heaving a sigh of relief and led them out of the room. So, Kate was a kindergarten teacher, and of course these children trusted her. I remembered how Allison used to adore her before she saw Kate for what she really was.

I led them down the passage to the kitchen door with a cold dread almost paralysing me. Every moment I expected to run into Marco. But there was nobody in sight. The kitchen was empty and the back door was not unlocked. I sent the children out.

“Run,” I smiled at them. “Run before Kate catches you. No ice cream for you then.”

The children hesitated for a moment and then ran, racing each other and scaled the wooden fence easily and were out of sight.

It was probably a bad idea sending them out like that, completely unprotected. But it was daytime and if they succeed, they would be able to give my message to another adult who should be sensible enough to take them to police.

“These children had been kidnapped and I have been able to sneak them out somehow. Please take them to the police.”

I mulled over my note and it suddenly occurred to me I should have added dad’s phone number. Of course when I had written the note I was half-mad with worry. 

I waited outside the basement door plastered against the wall for what seemed to be an eternity. I couldn’t decide what to do. It would do me no good bursting through the door. I would only be a liability.

While I was weighing down the pros and the cons, suddenly something happened that made the decision for me.

I heard Derek scream and this time even though the sound was muffled, I had no l doubt it was not my imagination. And the way it sounded – I had no words to describe! It was not like somebody being tortured. It sounded like somebody ripping his very soul out of his body.

Before I could even blink, before there was an iota of rational thought sipped into my brain I opened the basement door and stumbled down.

The power went out and the room plunged into semi-darkness immediately, barring from the faint light coming from the basement door. It was enough to barely make out the things that happened afterwards.

“About time.” Derek mumbled under his breath.

He snapped his hands free from the cuffs.

“What the hell?” Kate back paddled quickly.

Marco who was standing at the far corner of the room grabbed me from behind and held a blade to my throat.

Derek didn’t even seem to notice. He hooked his fingers through the collar gripping his throat and the next moment it lay at his feet. All the while he was looking at Kate with a calm and eerie silence. I couldn’t see him well in the darkness, I couldn’t see the extent of his injury, but I could see he was almost staggering on his feet, like he could fall down any moment now.

But he kept on advancing towards Kate who took equal steps backwards. Finally when her back hit the wall, she lashed out and it seemed more like fear rather than anger.

Derek was calm all along as he tore her apart, as he promised, limb from every limb. 

He didn’t even shift except for the extended claws.

Then he turned back and looked at Marco, who was looking fixedly at the bloody heaps which used to be his mistress sometime back. He relaxed his grip on me. Derek now started to walk towards us in the same calm manner and Marco released me, shoving me towards Derek. 

I fell down on the ground in front of Derek and he just side-stepped me with unseeing eyes. He had eyes for Marco only. The hunter turned and was about to bolt, but Derek grabbed him by the hair from behind, yanking him back to his chest.

“Didn’t anybody tell you not to run away from a predator?” He murmured to his ears, seductively.

Then he twisted his head in one fluid movement, letting the lifeless body fall down on the floor like a ragdoll.

I expected to feel relieved, but I just felt numb. That was why I couldn’t respond appropriately when Stiles showed up at the door.

“Oh my God.” He exclaimed unnecessarily.

Derek sank down to the floor. I basically crawled towards him. He had his head tucked between his knees, quiet tremors going through his pale frame and for the first time I noticed he was stark naked.

“Derek,” My voice was unrecognisable in my own ears. I sat in front of him, unsure.

Then I hesitantly reached forward and stroked his hair, now drenched with sweat. Derek’s head snapped up and he instantly recoiled from me. The next thing I knew he scampered back and then he collapsed, for there were no other words. One moment he was huddled at the corner, the next he lay there, apparently lifeless.

It was when Stiles had hugged me from behind and started chanting: “It is ok Vi, we got you...don’t cry...you are safe.” It was only then I realised the animal cries were coming out of my throat.


	17. The heart wants what the heart wants

Stiles’s POV:

 

I refused to shed the tears that were gathering momentum behind my eyelids on seeing Derek Hale’s unconscious form on the bed in his old loft. Though he was looking peaceful enough, the angry dark circles around his eyes and the deathly pallor of his skin as he fought the effects of the wolfsbane poisoning, were telling another tell. Deaton had said he appeared to be in a stage pretty akin to a coma. 

“It shouldn’t take this long for him to recover.” Scott had voiced the thought on all our behalf. “Why is it taking so long?” He had whined pitifully.

“The poison went really deep and not only into his veins but had invaded his muscles and tissues and even vital organs I am afraid.” Deaton had answered patiently. “Also, it looks like a part of him is still not willing to wake up.”

What…no, no, no…that was so fucked up! When had Derek run away from the battlefield? It couldn’t be true.

“He will wake up in his own time I guess, if at all.” Deaton had sighed heavily. “We can do nothing but wait.”

So we waited and I resolutely refused to cry as I looked upon Derek, who for such a bulky guy, looked so utterly forlorn and vulnerable, stretched out on the pristine white sheet. It was Chris and Scott who had carried him here five days back and tucked him in. After that Chris had pressed a hand on Derek’s forehead and kept it there for a full minute while Scott and I had looked on. It was such a small gesture, but it tugged at our core, somehow. Come to think of it, it seemed like a long time Chris and Derek had become grudging allies to actual friends saving each other’s lives. But at moments like this we suddenly realized what the younger man really meant to Chris. He had taken Scott and Isaac under his wings and virtually enjoyed the same ‘pack parent’ status as dad or Melissa. But I knew Derek was special, if for nothing then the knowledge how his sister fucked up (or tried to at least) Derek’s life multiple times. 

Well, Derek WAS indeed pretty special handling whatever shit life threw at him and still refusing to let go of his humanity. Vi said we didn’t appreciate him enough and she was bloody right. And I resolved to rectify the mistake as soon as he came back from the land of living dead.

I drew a chair by his side and lowered myself into it. I opened the book I was carrying and resumed reading…a little thing I had been doing for the last five days…something I did for mom for a bit while she was in the hospital…something my mom did for me when I was ill. Sometimes one of his fingers twitched and I counted it as a small victory.

“Ok big guy,” I opened at the bookmark. “Ready to hear Jacob and Bella’s budding romance?” I smirked evilly, imagining Derek glowering at me.

“Well, since it is my responsibility to keep you posted about the latest version of werewolf legend that people are currently obsessing over and since you would never let me drag you to watch Twilight,” I paused, “wait, did you say ‘over my dead body’? Yeah I thought so and therefore, this is the only way.” I smiled at the sleeping Derek. 

“I don’t want you to be culturally constipated.”

I read a few pages aloud, providing a helpful commentary along the way because, well, why the hell not! 

“Ok, so let us see how far they have got it correct.” I babbled. “The dark and broody looks with sexy tattoo, check. Great abs, check. The anger management issues, check. The general shirtlessness, not so much which is, by the way, a total downer on your part…I mean, not to me. Why would I want to ogle at a shirtless you? I would NEVER! But it is probably for the better for you might cause a few heart attacks or have random girls or guys jump you and that would be…like hugely uncomfortable. And you are probably trying to get out of your coma desperately just to strangle me to death and so I probably need to stop. I mean right now.” I cleared my throat and tried to swallow a lump slowly building in my throat again. 

Will he never wake up? If he didn’t then what? No ominously expressive eyebrows, no mocking half-smile, no threats and growls and thrusting large warm hands on my arm, on my chest with eyes hooded and hostile, but pupils alight with a quiet mirth, something intimate like a shared private joke, just between the two of us…and in their place there will be this void that could not be filled with a million words. 

“Well, if you ask my opinion Bella was absolutely right punching Jacob in the face. I mean what was he even thinking?” I mused. 

“And I am team Edward by the way. I am all for a sparkly vampire.” I nodded as I repeated it with conviction. “That is right. That is the only thing missing from our life. So –”

I froze mid-sentence for Derek was stirring.

“Derek?” the book fell on the ground while I rushed by his side.

A sound escaped from his throat that was so unlike Derek that I froze again, for a second time. Then the thrashing began. Derek’s eyes were still squeezed shut and he had beads of perspiration on his forehead. He was thrashing about on the bed, whimpering for there was no other ways to describe the pitiful sounds coming out of his mouth.

I wanted to raise Kate from dead, again, to skin her alive while making her stay conscious all the while for what she did to Derek. But that would do little good now and so I focussed on Derek instead. I climbed on the bed to hold him down by the shoulders firmly, knowing full well he can wolf-out any moment and my hands might not be attached to my body if he did so. But I acted purely impulsively as I hovered over him whispering his name, whispering he was ok, while at the same time trying to hold him down on the bed. Suddenly Derek inhaled deeply and his nostrils flared and before I could move he had me pinned by his side with almost half of his torso and his hands, which seemed very alive and very strong now, went around my middle in a vice-like grip. The next thing I knew he was nuzzling me in the stomach and a content purr emanating from somewhere deep inside his being. 

I froze again, out of sheer terror. Not of Derek though, for I had stopped being terrified of Derek and his death threats a long time back, even though logically speaking I still should have been afraid for he could tear me apart like ribbons, without him even noticing it, but I trusted him not to hurt me! However, I was frankly terrified at my own reaction to it. Then I just gave in...

For how could I not help clutching the soft dark hair, carding my fingers through them gently, making soothing sound...how could I not...when the range of emotions that went through me almost choked me in their sheer intensity! How could I not bend over him to protect him, with my body from the entire world...for here he was...the big bad Derek Hale, brought back from the dead, seeking warmth and comfort in...puny me? How could I deny him when he had trusted me so implicitly? I kept stroking his hair, his back, softly, tenderly, reverently for here he was – my wolf, proud and strong and silent – but clutching me right now like his life depended on it and I was dying a little inside. I was NOT in love with the stupid wolf...I was absolutely, most definitely not – I wiped at my eyes angrily. This was a dream for all his stirring and nuzzling, he was still very much asleep, he was yet to open his eyes and the way his entire body weight rested on my thighs, I knew he was a long way from consciousness still. But it felt so good, the dead weight on my thighs, the excessive warmth on my skin where he was wrapped around me, the pain in my ankle for sitting in an awkward position...all of it was also so unbearably sweet.

I bent down without thinking, planting light kisses on the top of dark head and I couldn’t stop when it produced another deep hum and Derek’s body relaxed further. I ran my hands down his back, his arms his sides, feeling the taut muscles under the soft fabric of the t-shirt. I craned my neck to plant a kiss on the white of his neck and Derek shuddered and if possible pulled himself tighter around me. I just shut down my brain altogether for I would freak out otherwise because I was cuddling a FRIGGING I-WOULD-RIP-YOUR-THROAT-AND-DRINK-YOUR-BLOOD DEREK HALE!!!

“Derek, come back to us...come back to me, please.” I hummed as I continued to shower feather-light kisses on his head on the shoulders, or whatever part of Derek I could reach. An irritating voice was nagging at the back of my mind to stop, to rewind, to back off, but what the hell...here was a fucking living, breathing Adonis on my lap who pressed back into my touches and held me...held me like he meant it and squeezed the life out of me even though he was barely conscious...an Adonis with gorgeous eyes of indeterminable colour who featured in my dreams and nightmares! I always fought, God, how hard did I fight against this instinct to fall head over heels and every time he rolled his eyes, every time he threatened me with bodily harm, every time he as much as looked at my direction...he took my breath away and how I tried to fill up the silence with chatter, mask the panic with false bravado...how much I wanted him to take notice of me...and how impossibly unattainable he seemed – so cold and distant, always...until now!

So it was absolutely not my fault to get carried away, over the warning bells in my mind...it was absolutely not my fault to grip his face roughly as he stirred under my hands, finally coming out of his stupor, forcing his face to tilt up towards me...not my fault to go over the edge as those green, blue, hazel orbs materialised as those eyelids fluttered open and just go for it...all sounds being reduced to white noise at the background.

I kissed Derek, right on the lips...hungrily, desperately, with my eyes open and his eyes fluttered closed, but his lips parted. It was my turn to whimper as I assaulted his lips, leaving bruises no doubt...and then and then...

“Vi” Derek panted against my lips.

I froze for what seemed like a hundredth time and Derek opened his eyes blinking rapidly.

“Stiles?” His confused expression should have been comical if it was not accompanied by the sound of something breaking...inside me. I tried to jerk away, immediately, if not for the iron grip around my torso.

Derek’s face had changed from confusion to utter panic within seconds, but he didn’t let me scramble away immediately. He carefully untangled himself from me, taking his time, looking me into the eye all the time and looking like I was some fragile thing and could break if he moved too quickly. Finally when he sat up straight, he still had not released my wrists.

I looked down at them pointedly.

“Please don’t panic.” Derek’s voice was unusually low, though somewhat scratchy and his eyes never leaving mine. “I am so sorry.”

I barked out a harsh laugh. “Why are YOU sorry? It was I who was out of line. The fact that you were nuzzling me didn’t mean...” Then something occurred to me and I looked down at myself. I was wearing an old red sweatshirt that actually belonged to Vi. In fact she was wearing it yesterday. I used to steal it occasionally when she was not looking. Shame and guilt washed over me in waves and Derek’s grip tightened on my wrists.

“I am sorry Stiles.” Derek shook his head sadly. “I am sorry.” Why did he keep on repeating it?

“So, it was Vi all along, huh?” I tried to infuse some fake cheerfulness into my voice. “Should have kissed and made up right when she slapped you man. That would have been so romantic. Would have saved all of us the trouble.” 

Derek continued to look at me with those unnerving eyes. We were still sitting too close for my comfort especially now when all I wanted was to escape to my room and never appear from there, ever again.

“Derek, cut it out, will ya?” I snapped at him finally and Derek flinched, like I had punched him and he let go of my wrists.

“What are you looking at?” I said as I climbed down from the bed to pick up the book from the floor. “I am not going into a panic attack if that is what you are worried about.” 

When I didn’t get any answer I whirled back to see Derek burying his face in his hands and groaning: “It is my fault...it is always my fault.”

I sighed irritably. “Since when did you get so existential?” 

Derek looked up at me, his expression pained. I would have preferred he glowered at me and hurled abuse. I simply couldn’t handle Derek taking the blame for another mistake he did not commit.

“It is my fault that I was not conscious enough to know what I was doing.” Derek’s eyes bore into mine. “It is my fault when I knew it was not her, I didn’t stop, right away...because I couldn’t.” 

“Well,” I said. “I wouldn’t read too much into that if you promise me never to mention this to anyone.”

“Too late.” Derek hung his head. 

“What?” I gaped at him.

Derek looked up at me and there was a world of pain I knew nothing about reflected in his eyes. “Let me rephrase my previous sentence. It is my fault that I didn’t stop even when I realized she was standing in the doorway and not on my bed kissing me.” My eyes snapped to the door of the bedroom. There they were, a bunch of white daisies scattered on the floor like the mournful remains of broken dreams.

I sighed. Why should everything take such a dramatic turn in my life? 

“I should probably check...” 

“She is gone now.” Derek sighed.

Ok, that was...not good. Vi...I had messed up. Oh my God! How much of that had she witnessed and now how would I convince her it was not what it seemed? It was a big time mess up...how could I completely forget about her when I climbed on Derek’s bed. How could I be so insensitive, how could I throw myself at Derek when he clearly...

“Stiles, breathe.” Derek was beside me in a flash, gripping my shoulders firmly, peering into my eyes. If his legs did wobble a little, he chose to ignore it. I gasped for air while Derek gently guided me to sit down on the bed again. He breathed in and out slowly with me until I was breathing normally. He kept his hold on one shoulder all the time.

“What have I done?” I finally recovered enough to give voice to my guilt.

“Nothing that I did not help you with.” Derek said gravely. “Go home Stiles. For what it is worth, it was, I believe, for the best.”

I turned my incredulous glance at Derek.

“I will be heading out soon anyways.” Derek wouldn’t look at me. Well, good for him for I would have probably withered him with a look.

“Chris has offered me a position at Argent International.” Derek continued. “As a translator.”

“When are you leaving?”

“I have promised Scott to help him with the Dread Doctors.”

“Derek, has it ever occurred to you that we may need you around not only to help us fight our battles?” 

Derek looked at me. “I think I got the general idea after the hug fest. And Melissa said something that...helped me understand.”

“Well, THANK GOD for that.” I threw my hands in air. “And after this fiasco today –”

Derek started to open his mouth, but I held out my palm signalling him to stop.

“After my fiasco today you can probably guess how I feel about you.” I huffed.

“I know it would be heartless and evil, but can I smirk now?” Derek looked at me innocently.

“Why?” I frowned. “If you tell me you had already guessed I am going to put all the wolfsbane back into you.”

Derek smirked and I just wanted to punch something.

“You know you are totally bluffing now.” I growled. “And you are right you are being evil and heartless and how could you do this to me?”

Derek’s smile dropped in an instant and he looked contrite again. “I am sorry Stiles. I shouldn’t...I wouldn’t dream of making fun of you.”

“Why? I mean I used not to be your favourite person.” I said bitterly. “You were always Scott is my brother and Scott is a good alpha and Scott is all about his friends...it was just Scott, Scott and Scott all the time. You never took me seriously.”

“You are wrong.” Derek muttered. I waited for him to elaborate, but there was no rejoinder to the sentence.

“Will you care to elaborate?” I bit out. “I think I have been humiliated enough and I at least deserve to know where exactly I stand with you.”

Derek looked at the floor and appeared to be deep in thought.

“You are one of the bravest, kindest and most selfless persons have ever seen.” He said quietly, without looking at me. “I admire your courage, has always been awed by it. But I wanted to keep you at arm’s length for that is my nature. Also, probably because –” Derek looked at me pointedly. “I didn’t want to give you false hopes.”

“You knew I am into you? Since when?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. Then I bit my tongue. Though the factuality of my statement had already been established by an actual demonstration, it seemed like voicing the thought made it more real.

Derek held my gaze this time. “Since your heart started beating in a different rhythm when I shoved you around.”

“Holy mother of God!” I gulped. “You stupid moron...you...why would you do that? Why would you talk like that and look at me like that and why would you...aarrrrghh...I am so fucked right now.”

“Hopefully not. Your father will kill me.” Derek deadpanned.

I huffed out a laugh. Then I stilled. I knew I was being ridiculous for it was not really Derek’s fault that I had fallen for him and he had definitely never led me on. At least he was trying to be nice about putting me down and he was ready to joke about it when I assaulted the poor man when he was barely even conscious.  
Derek nudged me with his shoulder.

I threw an incredulous glance at him at this uncharacteristic gesture. “Why are you insisting upon changing my world view within a span of one hour?”  
“Just because.” Derek gave a small smile.

“Unless you have no plans to invade MY bedroom tonight and attack ME while I am semi-conscious, stop being so fucking nice to me.” I snapped.

Derek tilted his head. “Nope. No way. I have tried the other route and your hormones go everywhere whenever I am rude to you, ESPECIALLY when I am rude to you.”

“Freaking werewolf and their freaking nose.” I muttered angrily under my breath. “Why can’t you at least pretend, for my sake, you are completely unaware of my stupid crush and that was that?”

“But I did, until you went ahead and kissed me.” Derek shrugged. “On the lips.”

“AFTER you half-strangled me and then nuzzled me and then cuddled the hell out of me like I was a fucking teddy bear.”

“Well, you smelt like Vi –”and with that it was Derek’s turn to freeze. But since he had better reflex he immediately schooled his face into blankness. “I mean I was so worried about her. I kept on dreaming about her.” Derek closed his eyes and shuddered. 

“Sure, keep telling yourself that. Someday you might convince yourself.” I rolled my eyes.

“It is not what you are thinking.” Derek said with something pretty akin to panic in his voice.

“Derek, old buddy,” I reached out and patted his arm. “It is ok and I am not going to shoot you, though dad might, with wolfsbane bullets too, and Chris would probably happily lend it to him for she is the baby seal of the pack. Scott might eviscerate you. Melissa might empty an injection syringe, again with wolfsbane solution into you. Lydia might try to...I don’t know...predict you to your death.”

Derek’s face was getting increasingly alarmed, but at the last assertion he totally lost it.

I stared at him for a few seconds before commenting drily. “Dude, I knew you could howl, but I didn’t know you could HOWL.” 

Derek was actually wheezing with tears coming out of his eyes. “Predict me to my death...Stiles!” He went on laughing some more and my irritation gave way to amazement and by the time he gathered himself up I was staring at his with a soft smile on my face.

“What?” He snapped.

“You.” I simply said. And because I realised it was kind of an off day for douchebag Derek Hale and it was sort of a first and last time I would see Derek so soft and carefree that I dared to do what I did next.

I reached out and gathered him in a hug and pecked him on the cheek, right where it dimpled.

Derek didn’t resist, didn’t even go stiff like I thought he would. He accepted it as gracefully as I gave it.

Only his smile became softer and matched mine when he looked at me.

“So, I guess my mindblowing kissing skill wouldn’t tempt you reconsider your plan to leave us.” 

Derek shook his head, though he was still smiling. I wanted to ask why he wanted to leave us again, but a part of me didn’t want to know. So I asked a different question then.

“Where are you going this time?” 

“Paris. I would be staying with Chris and Isaac.”

“That is good.” I nodded. “That is almost like a...like a –”

“Family?” Derek looked at me.

“Yes. I am happy for you. Chris and Isaac are good people. Chris doesn’t want to murder you anymore or break the window of your car. In fact he genuinely cares for you.”

“I noticed.” Derek chuckled. 

“So, why did you come back this time?” I couldn’t curb my curiosity.

Derek looked at me and I wanted to mentally kick myself. I did not want to be subjected to that stare that looked like it was baring my soul.

“You’ve stopped breathing.”

“No,” I shook my head. “I have been very much alive.”

“No, I mean right now. You just stopped breathing.”

I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes. “Smirk all you want.” I said drily without opening my eyes. “I give you my official permission.”

“Stiles look at me,” I opened my eyes at the gentle command and looked at Derek. 

“Do I look like I am smirking?” Derek’s face was absolutely serious. Then he looked away. “I am sorry for pulling your leg earlier, but I still haven’t learnt to mock at something good and sacred, like...affection.”

I huffed out a laugh. “Derek Hale a gentleman. Who would have thought?” 

I stood up. “And I noticed that you didn’t answer my question.” Derek stared at me silently. “Well sourwolf, if it was not my eloquent SMS –”

“Stiles,” Derek growled softly.

“Ok, ok, jeez. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” I picked up my backpack. “I am leaving anyway.”

“You wrote please come back” Derek suddenly chimed from my back. “Now if that was not the epitome of eloquence...”

I flipped him off and let myself out, with the sound of a quiet laughter ringing in my ears, feeling a warmth spreading through my limbs which had gone cold since it had lost contact with Derek’s ridiculously warm body.


	18. Undeserving

Vi’s POV:

 

I didn’t remember driving back home. 

I snapped out of it only when dad clicked his fingers right in front of my nose.

“Hey kiddo. Wakey wakey!” I started and looked at him blankly. I didn’t know what dad saw in my face, but it was clearly nothing good.

“Yeah dad.” I asked a bit dazedly.

He heaved a long suffering sigh.

“I would have said if there is something wrong, other than the usual of course. Or if I could help or that I am here to listen if you are inclined to talk. But…” He crossed his palm across his forehead tiredly. “I guess, just like Stiles, for you too that would be a waste of breath. Am I right?”

I stared at him for a few moments. Dad looked older than his age. His usual cowboy demeanour was weighed down with worry. He was only human. Being dragged unnecessarily into the world of the supernatural had done little good to his mental or physical health. I felt really useless. All I could do was to get into danger and I just kept on adding to his burden. Now he thought Stiles and I were drifting away from him for we no longer went to him with our problems like we used to do as kids. I chewed my lower lips silently for a couple of minutes. Dad finished making coffee, offered me a cup and sat down opposite me.

“Well?” He raised his eyebrows expectantly. 

“I think I am in love with Derek. Have been so for a long time. I would have died if something happened to him. So even though I was afraid Kate was eventually going to kill me, I didn’t want Derek to come barging in to rescue me for I was convinced Kate was going to hurt him. And she did. She did...After that I was so scared he would never wake up. Today he finally did and he was kissing Stiles.” I delivered it in a monotone, with my face completely blank for that was how I felt…just blank...for I didn’t have the capacity to feel anything any more.

Dad was not passive though. Panic, rage, frustration and an entire range of mostly negative emotions played over his open face.

“You are in love with Derek Hale? The man who is SIX years older than you and who put you and Stiles in danger a number of times? Because of whom Kate kidnapped you in the first place?” Dad’s voice was absolutely furious.

“Dad,” I said in a tired voice. “If you arrest a criminal and that person is convicted, if that person later comes out of the jail and kidnaps me or Stiles, does it mean you are to be blamed for it?”

“That is a different issue.”

“How is it different? Derek is a victim of the crimes Kate or Peter or Jennifer or the Nogitsune committed. If you want to blame somebody, blame Peter who bit Scott from where all these started.”

“He is dangerous nonetheless.”

“I know it dad. I saw how he tore Kate to pieces, right in front of my eyes. Just like I know he would do that to anybody who would dare to hurt me or Stiles or Scott or Lydia or even you and Melissa or Chris or any of our friends. Damn right he is dangerous. He is part wolf. You should be happy he is on our side and he is our protector.”

Dad tried to open him mouth and I was not yet done. “Or is it that for you too Derek is just an instrument conveniently used. When you need him to locate a wendigo or a mute assassin, or if you need him to save your daughter you can be all friendly, but God forbid if that daughter happens to give him her heart. Then he is a monster again.”

“I am not calling him a monster.” Dad protested. “If you guys haven’t noticed, I happen to LIKE Derek.”

“But you simply don’t like him enough.”

“I will never think, no father will ever think a man to be good enough to deserve his baby daughter.” Dad almost screamed at me. “Especially you Vi, because you are too good to be true. You are just so naïve and innocent and you have such a kind and passionate heart.”

I went over to him and hugged him silently.

“Thanks dad. But I think you have got it wrong. Simply because Derek doesn’t have anybody to say these things for him, he doesn’t have a mom or a dad to tell how good and wonderful he is, how any woman is lucky to have him doesn’t diminish the fact that he IS in fact an amazing person. Even you must see that.”

Dad patted my hands and I sat down on the chair again.

“I love him dad. But he loves Stiles and Stiles loves him.”

“How the hell did you two develop crushes on the same person?” Dad asked bemusedly. “I thought the fact that you two being different gender we would avoid this situation.”

“You had been worried that we would fall in love with the same person?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Not quite. But when you two were young, both of you always liked the same toys and same books and you fought for it. Used to drive your mom crazy.” He smiled a little.

“You are not mad at Stiles?” I was a bit angry at him for this double standard.

“Well, Stiles is…Stiles. He is tougher and wiser than he lets out.”

“Dad, I am not a fool, nor I am a fragile person.” I patted the back of his hand. “I had been held at the basement for three months by a psychotic bitch without losing my mind. I can handle Derek. Or handle his relationship with somebody else. It has happened before. Now it is my own brother. It is ok. I can handle it.”

“It has happened before?” Dad asked. “How long has it been going on? This crush…thing?”

“Since I went to Hale house with Cora and saw Derek for the first time. I was ten, I think.”

“Oh boy!” Dad slumped back in his chair. 

“Right.” I managed a weak smile.

“So, Stiles and Derek…”

“Is a huge misunderstanding.” Both dad and I jumped as Stiles’s voice boomed from behind. I glared at him.

“Stiles, I always suspected you had a thing for Derek. You don’t need to aplogise for that. But please don’t lie. It is not attractive.”

“You…are not angry at me?” Stiles plopped down on another empty kitchen chair, facing me.

I exhaled. “Why should I be angry at you? You are a decent person and a way better choice than the previous things he dated. I am happy for you two.”

“Ughhhh…STOP IT. Right there.” Stiles half-screamed at me. “There was no…well, I kissed Derek, mistakenly. He…I think, he thought it to be you.”

“What?” Dad and I spoke simultaneously.

“Well, I don’t know. I am not sure what happened, but he definitely doesn’t think me anything else, other than a good-intentioned but annoying friend.” Stiles sighed. “When he was waking up…he was…kind of whimpering. It was…I had never heard Derek sound like THAT and I was trying to hold him down and he somehow ended up on my lap and I ended up kissing him. He sounded so…afraid and vulnerable and…I don’t know…forlorn.”

“I can imagine.” I closed my eyes and shuddered, trying my best NOT to imagine what horrors had passed after I was removed from the basement.  
Dad noticed this exchange and was at a loss. He knew Kate had hurt Derek with electrocution and sharp objects dipped in wolfsbane, but he didn’t know the exact details.

“What the hell you two are talking about?” He demanded.

“It was Kate.” I swallowed, exchanging a brief eye-contact with Stiles. “She had hurt Derek before. I mean, not only physically, that she did for fun anyway, but psychologically too. She showed me a few videos down there in the basement. She used to say things, taunted him rather…and she did certain things…to him” I closed my eyes and swallowed. “This time also…Derek pretty much surrendered to her when Marco was threatening me. She used me to sort of…tame him and he…he said he would do anything…he would…only if they didn’t hurt me. I felt so useless, so useless. He was so hurt. The way he looked when it was over…he looked like a ghost and he recoiled from me. He recoiled like I would hurt him…like he was expecting I would hurt him…like everybody else does. Everybody hurts him.”

“Vi,” Stiles rose from his seat and was about to hug me, but I held out my hands.

“Not today Stiles. I am sorry. I am not in the mood.” I stood up and looked at dad. “Now you can decide what Derek deserves and he doesn’t.”

To my brother I said, “IF you ever hurt him, I would hurt you, even though I love you.”

“But Vi,” Stiles started saying.

“Enough for today.” I shook my head. “I am not interested Stiles.”

With that I left the two men standing in the kitchen and went up to my room. I didn’t have time for tears. They would come later for the entire night was there for me to cry – nights that I spent without sleep, which had remained pretty much elusive since I was rescued. I had schoolworks to catch up to and I was determined to do so in as little time as possible. I didn’t deserve to wallow in self-pity. The person who deserved all our love and compassion had just come out of coma and tomorrow he would go out into the darkness again if there was somebody else needed to be rescued. And he might throw away his life without a second’s hesitation. Still that man was undeserving in my father’s eyes. I had never felt so small and useless in my life.


	19. Sunshine and darkness

Vi’s POV:

 

“Why do you keep doing this?” Derek growled, practically growled at me.

“What?” I raised my eyebrows innocently.

Derek gestured angrily towards the flowers, white calla lilies with long stems I had brought and arranged in a makeshift flower pot that I had made out of a tall glass jar.

“What is wrong with that?”

“Why do you keep on bringing me flowers?” Derek’s tone was still angry. He was holding himself still in the centre of the room and following me with his eyes fussing around the room. Stiles and Scott were sitting on the couch and trying their best not to laugh.

“I like to bring you flowers. What is there NOT to understand? It is not exactly rocket science.” I avoided his gaze.

“Vi,” Derek’s tone hardened. “Look at me when you are speaking to me.”

I paused and slowly turned towards him. He was clean-shaved today and was wearing that maroon sweater with thumbholes again. I sighed. This boy would be the death of me!

“I understand you used to bring me flowers when I was in a coma, but I am alright now. What do you hope to achieve with this?”

“Oh no you didn’t.” Stiles muttered softly under his breath and Derek gave him a puzzled look.

My temper flared. “I don’t hope to achieve anything. I told you the truth. I like to bring you flowers even when you are not in coma. Are you allergic to flowers?” I hissed.

Derek frowned. “No, but that is not –”

“So what the hell is your problem? Are you a closet misogynist? Do you think it is only a man who can give flowers to women and when a woman does it, it is offending to your ego?”

“Miso...no...why would –” 

Stiles was doubling over on the couch.

“For fuck’s sake Derek they are just FLOWERS. It is not going get kinetic while you are not looking and strangle you in your sleep.” 

Derek looked at the flowers dubiously like he was not entirely sure they wouldn’t do anything like that.

“But I –”

“No but, nothing. Just zip your mouth.” I glared at him. “You have decided you are abandoning us again and you didn’t take into consideration what other people might think about that. So I would do exactly as I please and shower you with flowers, teddy bears and chocolate.”

“Should have shut up about five minutes back dude.” Stiles smirked at Derek who looked ready to break something vital in Stiles’s body.

I ignored them completely and went to the kitchen counter and where I had set down the large brown paper bag earlier. I took out the ingredients for the salad I was about to make. Then I rummaged through the cupboards and found a large bowl, a knife and a cutting board. I became acutely aware of the silence and the fixed stares of three pairs of eyes, but I pretended not to notice it.

“What are you doing?” Derek asked in a dangerous voice.

“What does it look like dumbass?” I didn’t look up.

“She is making a salad.” Stiles elaborated unnecessarily. 

“I am not blind.”

“You could have fooled me.” Stiles muttered.

“Why are you making salad?” Derek sounded utterly frustrated.

“Because I feel like it.” I concentrated on dicing the apples, still not looking at Derek who was still standing in the middle of the room. 

“I am hungry.” Scott said helpfully.

“Me too.” Stiles said and looked at Derek expectantly.

“What?” Derek snapped.

“Here is where you say ‘me three’.”

“Never in a million years.”

Stiles and Scott almost fell off the couch laughing.

I unwrapped the cheese cubes and proceeded to dice them carefully.

“Vi,” I felt, Derek striding forward fluidly and in a moment he was in front of me. He touched my wrist briefly and quickly withdrew, like he was burned or something. I raised my eyes to his.

“Why are you doing this?” He said quietly and just like that he took my breath away.

I inhaled slowly, through my nose, before answering.

“I am making a salad. Why the hell is it so complicated to understand? You do eat food, don’t you? Or you just sustain on guilt and hero complex?” 

“You have never made me salad.” Derek sounded utterly exasperated now.

“All the more reasons why I need to do it now.”

“Why green apples and grapes in particular?” Derek narrowed his eyes. Stiles came down to stand next to me to inspect the progress.

“Are you allergic?” Stiles asked.

Derek’s mouth pressed into a thin line.

“No because those are his favourites.” I smirked triumphantly.

“How the hell do you...” Derek raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Well I don’t even want to know.” He strode off and settled down on a couch with his laptop.

Stiles and I looked at each other and shared an evil grin. Scott was looking at the entire proceeding with a smile on his face. Only Derek looked like his dog was dead or something, but we pretty much ignored him, though a part of me probably felt sorry for him. It must have been baffling to him how from being perceived as the most dangerous predator around he came to be the butt of jokes.

“People, chow time.” Stiles took the salad bowl and placed it on a coffee table. 

“What chow?” Lydia entered into the loft and made a beeline for the salad bowl.

“Derek.” Stiles cooed. “Come here boy.” Derek looked up from his laptop and pinned Stiles with a look, murder written all over his face. 

“Green apple, grapes, cheese...excellent.” Lydia took one spoonful and munched. “But what is the occasion?”

“Vi is pampering Derek.” Scott smiled.

Derek groaned, kept his laptop aside and buried his face in his hands.

“Dude, she is trying to do something nice for you. Get used to it. You really need to work on your reaction. You were far more stoic when the Alpha pack attacked you!” Stiles shoved a spoonful of salad into his mouth.

“I don’t want her to do anything for me.” Derek stood up, radiating hostility. “I didn’t ask for anything other than being left alone.”

“Well, you can be all alone and angsty at Paris. We are not going to bother you there.” Stiles said. 

“Much.” I added.

“Why are you bothering with all these? I survived without flowers or green apple salad so far. I will manage just fine.” Derek almost shouted at me.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I put the spoon down with a thud and started towards the couch Derek was sitting spluttering expletives.

“You wretched man...you...” Stiles grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back and I fought against him. “I am going to kill you...you worthless piece of shit.” I elbowed Stiles painfully on the stomach trying to wrench free.

“Some help please.” Stiles said over his shoulder and instantly Scott was there in front of me, holding my hands down.

“Vi, calm the hell down.”

“Let me be...I have been putting up with this shit for so long. I am going to murder him today.” I screamed at Scott.

“Why don’t you leave her alone Stiles. You don’t have to protect me.” Derek said, not even trying to hide his amusement, the asshole.

“I am not trying to protect you.” Stiles clenched his teeth as I stomped down on his toes. “I am trying to protect my sister.”

Derek walked down to stand directly in front of me while I flailed about wildly with Stiles holding me back.

“Stiles,” he said quietly, “Do you seriously think I am going to hurt her.”

“Of course not.” Stiles rolled his eyes. “You would just stand there like a moron while she breaks her hand trying to hit you for your stubbornness. Or chase her away crying so that she gets kidnapped by a psychopathic murderer.”

All of us stilled and Derek just stared at Stiles, his green-grey-hazel eyes widened, a world of hurt reflected in them. Then he turned on his heels and walked away.

We heard the bedroom door click shut.

Stiles POV:

“Why are you doing this to her?” I asked. I had given him half an hour and then let myself in Derek’s bedroom without knocking. It was a horrible invasion of privacy but I didn’t particularly feel I should leave Derek alone after the reaction my last comment to him invoked. I knew he was hurting and I was not talking about superficial wounds, for those had healed completely by now.

Derek was sitting by the window with a book in his hand. He looked up and glared.

“Dude, I am not scared of your death glares any more.”

Derek smirked cruelly, showing his teeth. “Oh, really,” and I gulped for he looked every bit like the dangerous predator that he really was, under the shockingly adorable maroon sweater. (They have cute thumbholes for God’s sake!)

“Ok, probably just a wee bit.” I admitted. “But why are you acting so bitchy with Vi. She loves you man. She has loved you since time immemorial. You never even glance in her way, but we all KNOW what you feel about her.”

“Just shut up Stiles. Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.”

“What is there to understand? A girl loves a boy the boy loves her back. Simple. I understand you have gone through a number of bad relationships, but you surely don’t count Vi among them. I mean what exactly are you afraid of? Vi is nothing like Kate and Jennifer.” I paced about in the room gesticulating with my hands.

A low growl escaped from Derek’s throat and I turned around to look at him. Derek was looking absolutely furious. “Don’t take her name in the same sentence as those two world-class bitches.”

“See,” I threw my hands in air. “You care for her.”

“Of course I care for her. She is pack. I will take a bullet for her and so would Scott. Does it mean Scott is in love with Vi?”

“Ew...that is not a good comparison man.” Scott complained, inviting himself inside. “Vi is like the sister I never had. You, dude, feel anything but brotherly about Vi.”

“And you know that how?” Derek raised his eyebrows.

Scott looked at Derek with consternation. 

“What? Tell him his heartbeat raises and what not or he smells like whatever people smell like when they are attracted to somebody.” I gesticulated to Scott.  


Scott just bit his lip and Derek smirked. “He can’t.”

“That is because your heartbeat is always steady and you are so GOOD at suppressing all emotions.” Scott complained.

“Has it ever occurred to you fools that may be there is no emotion to speak of?”

“Has it ever occurred to you that it is not polite to talk about me at my back?” 

All three of us jumped. Vi was glaring at us from the doorway. Then she walked inside and stood toe to toe with Derek.

Scott mumbled something about some non-existent chore he had to finish and ran away. I ducked my head and started whistling, leaving Derek in charge of the situation.

“I didn’t start it.” Derek grumbled.

“But you continued it. Don’t you have any respect for me?” Vi growled back. I looked from Derek to Vi and back to Derek.

Both of them had their arms held across their chests and it looked really ridiculous. Here was my little sister, looking about as dangerous as a pissed off kitten, staring off a werewolf who towered a good half a foot over her.

“Tell your stupid brother to stop pestering me about you.” The words came out of Derek’s mouth before he realised what he was saying.

Vi opened her mouth and then closed it. She bit her lips and just stormed out of the loft.

“You are SUCH a jerk.” I shouted at Derek. I really wanted to punch him at that moment.

“You don’t bloody deserve her.”

“My point exactly.” Derek muttered under his breath.

“What do you mean?” I asked and Derek’s head snapped up and he looked like he was surprised to see I was still standing there.

“Nothing.”

Well, I was utterly and completely done. I walked away from the room and went to the kitchenette and picked up a heavy bottomed pan, walked into the bedroom again and over to Derek who was watching me warily and started beating him on the arm and the back with it mercilessly. Well to be truthful at the third stroke the damn thing broke, but I hoped I got my point across!

“Ow,” Derek massaged his arm. “What the hell was that for?” He glared at me.

“Just stop being a moron for two seconds. Just stop with your drama. Ok? Just...” I raked my fingers through my hair in frustration. “I just want to punch through the wall.”

“Stiles come down.” Derek’s voice bordered on alarm. “Your heartbeat is through the roof.”

“Just tell me...what the hell is the problem? Why do you think you don’t deserve Vi? Why are you doing this to yourself and to her?”

Derek averted his eyes and remained silent.

“Would you just...I can’t take it anymore. She cries herself to sleep every night. I don’t know what exactly happened at Kate’s basement, but she seems somehow convinced that you got hurt trying to shield her and she is hating herself to cause you more pain. She is miserable about your going away.” I sighed. “She is dying inside Derek. My sister who used to be so smart and so funny and so intelligent and you have just reduced her to a mass of tears. She is hurting.”

Derek’s inscrutable face crumpled for a couple of seconds before he adjusted his mask again.

“It is for the best.”

“So you keep on saying.”

Derek turned on me practically snarling.

“I have killed people, Stiles. I have caused deaths. I have taken decisions that have led to bloodshed. I have done things that only a monster or a very twisted person can do.” My first instinct was to flinch back at the face of so much rage, but I held my ground. For the rage was not directed at me, but at himself. By God Derek was hurting too and he was not done.

“I am the most fucked up person that ever was. And she is pure and innocent. She is all heart and sunshine. I am all darkness. I am dead Stiles. Something inside me died at Mexico. It was one reason I kept away from here for I didn’t feel alive. I feel broken. I don’t feel the need to wake up in the morning. I don’t feel the need to see another sunrise. All I see is the possibility of more death and more bloodshed.”

“Derek...dude?” I reached out and touched his arm. “You OK?”

“What? Why?” He said absently.

“You are crying.” I gently pointed towards his cheeks which were flooded with silent tears.

He raised a hand to his cheeks and looked at the moisture on the fingers with a surprised expression on his face. Then he turned his back on me.  
“Go home Stiles. Keep your sister away from me. I am bad news for everybody.”

I just gave his arm a gentle squeeze and walked away, hiding my own tears, not letting him know how visceral my reaction was to his tears. I wanted to howl in pain. I wanted to hug him tight and hide him from the entire world, take upon a hundred Kate and rip them apart...if only it would make him feel good.  


But I was not entitled to. It should be Vi. It was always Vi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anybody is interested in the recipe of the green salad Vi made for Derek they can visit my foodblog at: http://themoodychef.blogspot.in/


	20. Fools and follies

Stiles POV:

Well, Beacon Hills will be Beacon Hills and things were expected to go downhill whenever there was a little bit of hope and joy threatening to disrupt our lives. In this case, the threat never went away, only shoved to the background because there were other issued at hand – namely a kidnapped sister, a psycho Kate on the loose...Derek going into coma for five days!

Before we could even call an official pack meeting, the Dread Doctors had struck again. This time they were successful in breaking into Eichen House again. There was no Derek this time to stop them from taking Dr. Valack and Peter Hale of all people. We had no clue what the Doctors planned to do with them. It was our guess they were up to no good!

One positive thing at least had come out of the entire kidnapping incident, my sister had got way tougher than before and she had been resolutely taking self-defence lessons along with Lydia. Though she had no supernatural power, unlike Lydia, she tried to make up for it through sheer determination and put in the same dedication as she did in her running. It seemed like she had channelled all her energy into her judo and kickboxing classes. That was the time she could spare from her school works.

I had grown a new-found admiration for my sister. Well, we were twins and to keep it traditional I had to tease her on principle and it was sort of a part of my job-description to embarrass her in front of her friends. But at my heart I was truly amazed how she bounced back from what must have been a traumatic experience in no time at all, how she had managed to catch up the with school works and at the same time exerting herself to her limit so that she didn’t feel weak anymore, physically at least.

Derek situation, unfortunately remained pretty much the same. I hadn’t tried to talk to him after a soul-searching conversation too heavy for my heart that we had at his bedroom last time a week back. Vi had continued to bring flowers and food items and had baked brownies too, the last time we went there, which was yesterday evening. Derek ignored the flowers altogether. He never touched the food Vi prepared or brought down...or so we thought.

“The leftover brownie is not here.” Scott complained, closing the cupboard with a grunt of disappointment. 

“What?” Derek asked absent-mindedly.

“The brownie. That Vi made last evening. It is not in the cupboard. I had kept them in the cupboard.”

“Somebody must have had it.” Derek answered without looking up from the blue-print he was studying. It was an original layout of the water-treatment plant that my dad had found in the public records section of BH Library. It was sprawled over the large study desk and Derek and I were poring over the details.  


“All of us left together, at ten. Who would eat it unless Braeden sneaked in here at midnight and stole it!” Scott narrowed his eyes at Derek.

“Braeden and I are not together any more.” Derek still refused to meet his eyes.

“Oh,” Scott studied Derek for a few seconds and exchanged a look with me.

“Don’t exchange that look with Stiles.” Derek barked without looking up and both Scott and I jumped a bit guiltily.

“How do you...ok, never mind, when did you break up with Braeden?” I asked curiously.

“That is none of your business.” Derek growled into the map. “Now can you two stop gossiping like old ladies so that we can concentrate on this?”  
Scott and I exchanged another...

Derek was on me in a flash and after a long long long long time, what seemed like an entire eternity...he shoved me back into the wall with one hand (normal human hand) around my throat and snarled at me with his face two inches from mine.

“I SAID DON’T EXCHANGE STUPID KNOWING LOOKS OVER THINGS THAT MEAN ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.” 

It was only one man in the entire universe who could scare me shitless and turn me on at the same time.

I licked my lips nervously as I took in Derek’s beautiful eyes from up close and it effectively shut down my brain, momentarily.

Then of course I was furious, more at myself than at Derek that he could actually elicit such dual response from me and so I shoved him back roughly. 

“What the fuck dude!” Of course I wasn’t able to move him even a milimeter, stupid fucking wolf.

Derek looked long and hard at me for a few moments with his lips pressed into a grim line.

“Just don’t, ok?” He said more gently this time. He left his hold on me and adjusted my sweatshirt without quite looking at me. Before I could form another retort, he was back at the desk, pretending to be engrossed in the map once again.

I resisted the urge to exchange another worried look with Scott and went back to study the map again.

“See these pipes.” Derek pointed towards a cluster of pipelines that were spread like a web throughout the facility. Scott came over and stared at the maps.  


“Interesting isn’t it?” I said softly. 

“Yeah, if you think the same pipes also branch out right into the town, ending up into hydrants and other outlets.” Derek muttered thoughtfully.

“But the plant was closed down long time ago.” Scott frowned.

“I was five when it closed down. I went into the abandoned plant on a dare, when I was ten.” Derek mused.

“Dude we are now exchanging glances and so that you don’t freak out again, we are warning you beforehand.” I said.

“I didn’t freak out.” Derek said a bit defensively. “And I don’t expect anything less juvenile from you two.”

“Hey,” Scott and I protested together.

“Why is it so impossible for you two to picture me young?” Derek looked at the two of us pointedly.

“Because you never talk about it.” Scott blurted out.

“Right.” Derek sighed. “Back to the work, guys, shall we?”

“Why don’t we go and check, Scott and I?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Scott nodded enthusiastically.

“And what if you come face to face with the beast?” Derek quirked an eyebrow.

“We won’t. And if we do, we promise not to engage, but run for our lives.” Scott assured. 

“Not good enough. It is too risky.” Derek shook his head. “First we have to figure out the entire thing.”

“Dude, it is pretty much apparent the Doctors are using the pipelines for transportation.” I said.

“Yes, but how is it possible?” Derek’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Beats me. But we would accomplish nothing if we don’t physically inspect it.” Scott looked at me for support.

“Yeah, Scott and I could go while you can help Parrish find the Nemeton.”

“What? Why?” Derek looked puzzled.

“I told you Parrish is trying to find the damn tree for he keeps dreaming about it!” Rather disturbing dreams featuring a naked and burning Parrish gathering dead-bodies all around the supernatural tree.

“Wasn’t Lydia helping him with it?” Scott asked.

“Trying and failing.” I replied then I looked at Derek. “You had been there. You know the forest better than us. Please help them find it otherwise the man is just about to lose his mind.”

I knew Derek had a soft corner for Parrish, though he usually never trusted anybody instinctively. It might have to do with the fact that Parrish treated a de-aged Derek with such kindness. Also there was a disarming gentleness about him that made him even more endearing than Scott and THAT was saying something. I knew Derek trusted Parrish, in spite of himself and would want to help him any way possible.

“Ok, I would help him.” Derek said finally. “But on one condition.” 

We looked at him expectantly.

“We are visiting the plant TOGETHER, after we find this nemeton.”

“Alright mom!” I rolled my eyes and was rewarded with a light smack at the back of my skull.

...

Obviously, we didn’t listen to the adult voice of reason. I mean, hey, we had just barely turned eighteen and it was not the age not to rebel against all sorts of authority figure, not that Derek had any authority over us. Who the hell was he kidding? Scotty, my bud here, was the alpha and not Derek Hale (even though sometimes he did talk down to us like we were still underage and we hated him for it) and so we had both the right and the wisdom to make an independent decision, right?

Wrong!

For here we were, vastly outnumbered, counting on the distress SMS sent to Derek, hoping he would not ignore it just to teach us a lesson.

Well, lesson learnt. I HATE fucking kanimas!!!

Theo’s pack was proving to be a real pain in the ass, especially the kanima, Tracy. No, I mean a REAL pain in the ass for here I was paralysed neck down, AGAIN, on the floor in the goddamn water-treatment plant. One moment we were following the pipelines down to the basement and investigating an interesting symbol on the wall of a serpent devouring itself, the next moment I was being tossed about by Theo’s brat pack. Well, Scott did beat some fear of God into them and they were now standing at a respectful distance from him, but it was evident Scott would not be able to fight with them and drag me to safety at the same time.  


Theo of course rolled in, hair perfectly in place, designer trousers and a trademark smirk on his lips, declaring how his pack was not yet ready to take on an alpha werewolf, yet.

To our utter relief and everlasting gratitude (though we would rather die than admit it) Derek and Vi rushed inside, with Deputy Parish in tow. All of them froze and looked from me to Scott, to Theo and his pack huddled on one side and resting back on me.

“Oh,” Parrish said.

“Hey,” I greeted from the floor.

“Getting comfy there?” Derek smirked.

“No, I guess he wants his pillow.” Vi snickered.

“Assholes.” I muttered.

“Derek, I can totally explain.” Scott started.

“I distinctly remember to tell you to wait.” Derek scolded Scott and narrowed his eyes at Theo, completely ignoring the three chimeras hovering behind him.  


“And who the hell is this?”

“So, you are the famous Derek Hale.” Theo smiled beatifically at Derek, ignoring the glower. “It is nice to finally meet you. You Hales are after all the ancient protector of this land. Well, the situation is certainly different for you now. You would have to accommodate a few changes.”

Derek arched one eyebrow at me. Thank God, he was not losing his touch!

“Yeah...even I can’t believe that his mother didn’t strangle him at birth.” I would shrug if I could.

Derek looked at Scott and with a what-the-hell-had-you-been-doing-while-I-was-gone look and then went back to stare at Theo.

“Oh you are the silent, brooding type.” Theo said when nothing but stony coldness greeted him.

“No, he is the rip-your-throat-first-and-ask-questions-later type.” I huffed and felt rather than saw Derek’s stare turning back on me. Then he sighed resignedly like he couldn’t believe why he put up with me in the first place. I held down the urge of blowing an air kiss.

“Oh that is not a problem with me.” Theo was still smiling. “If that is the case, you might in fact be in the wrong pack, that is IF you are in a pack at all. Perhaps you should consider Omeg –”

“Finish the sentence and I will rip your heart out of your body while it is still beating.” Derek grinned back, teeth glistening in overhead light, perfectly normal human teeth, but Theo’s smile dropped for a second or two.

“Trust me, we are on the same side.” Theo continued with the small talk.

“Yeah, which side is that?” Derek monotoned.

“The side of I don’t know...surviving? Especially with the thing coming for us, the Beast of Gévaudan--”

“Oh we will survive.” Derek cocked his head to one side. “Your chance is however diminishing with each word.” How could somebody look so threatening without even flashing his werewolf eyes was beyond me, but it was another special Derek talent. Menace was radiating out of him and Theo took an involuntary step back as Derek approached him lazily, languidly, with the fluidity of a natural born predator – beautiful but deadly.

“So here is the deal.” Derek stepped right into Theo’s personal space whose smile had vanished altogether by now. “I am not Scott. Trust me when I say this you don’t want to find out how VERY different I am from him.”

“Well, that is your cue to beat it, if you don’t get it by now.” I cooed at Theo who glared at me, but scrambled back nonetheless to put a healthy distance between him and Derek.

“Well, if a couple of humans, an undeterminable something and a homicidal wolf is all you got I really worry for your pack Scott.” Theo spat at Scott.

“You may want to rephrase that buddy.” I smiled at him, noticing Kira approaching us from the other side of the room.

“I second that.” I startled and found Liam and Mason entering into my field of vision.

“Not to forget the fireworks.” Chris appeared out of the broken doorway carrying a shotgun.

All of them flanked Theo and his pack in a loose circle. Scott scanned the room and smiled at Theo. The look of hopelessness and resignation had given way to iron determination. For a long time after the deadpool episode Scott was looking like a true alpha again. He even looked taller.

Needless to say, Theo took my advice.

...

To complete my utter humiliation, it was Derek who insisted on carrying me outside, fireman-style with Vi snickering all the way! Even Scott, the traitor was trying to hide a smile when Derek deposited me on the passenger seat of my jeep, uncharacteristically gently.

On top of that, he insisted on buckling my seat-belt too and that was the limit and I could not take it anymore.

“Dude!” I whined.

“Yes Stiles.” Derek looked at me, hands at my waist, trying to ease my rigid body into the most comfortable position, face way too close for my comfort.

“Why?” I simply said.

“Why what?” Derek asked innocently.

“Is it your new way to torture me? By being extra nice?” I rasped. Scott, Mason and Kira were shaking with quiet laughter. Liam kept on looking between the two of us with a puzzled expression on his face.

Suddenly someone pushed Derek from behind, catching him off guard and he half-fell on me, lips accidentally brushing my collarbone and I gave out a surprised yelp.

“Just kiss him already, ok!” Vi piped, who it turned out to be the culprit.

“What!!!” I could almost hear the three exclamation marks in Derek's question.

“It is nothing you haven’t done already.” 

Oh God kill me now! Six pairs of eyes turned towards Derek and me and I shrank back as much as my paralysed body let me. Six pairs that included Chris and Parrish who left whatever it was they were doing to stop and stare at us.

“Vi,” Derek stood ramrod straight by my jeep, carefully angling his body away from me. His voice was low and ice-cold when he spoke. 

“Stop behaving like an adolescent. I expect better from you.” And just like that Vi deflated, like Derek had actually slapped her.

“Sorry,” She mumbled and climbed on the driver’s side of the jeep.

The conversation pretty much died after that, and also mostly because we all drove away in our respective cars. Derek gave a lift to Lydia and Jordan who had left their cars at the reserve.

Vi drove silently for a few minutes.

“I am sorry Stiles.” She broke it first. “I am such an ass sometimes.”

“It is ok.” I mumbled. “You wouldn’t believe if I tell you a thousand times it was nothing but an accident.”

“Stiles,” Vi started.

“How come you came with Derek?” I tried to change the subject.

“I was with Jordan and Lydia, looking for the nemeton when Derek called. We met him at the reserve and he helped us find it.”

“You found it?” I got excited.

“Yeah.” Vi didn’t look very happy though. “Derek said it would show itself only to the supernatural people. So he turned on his wolf vision and we found it. But...Jordan...he didn’t take it well.”

“What do you mean?”

“He sort of broke down. He said his dreams were real. He said he was stealing corpses of people who were supernatural and bringing them to the nemeton. Finding the tree in reality kind of jogged his memory.”

“So that was where the deadbodies were disappearing?” I frowned. “He is clearing up the evidence.” I shivered remembering the deadbody of Donovan at the BH library and how it disappeared within minutes of his being killed by my hands.

“Why is he doing this?” I wondered aloud.

“I don’t know Stiles. He didn’t recollect any of it. But he is going to surrender himself. He is going to tell dad to lock him up until we know what is wrong with him.” Vi seemed distressed. She was very fond of Jordan. Normally, she was outraged at the thought Jordan was anything but good. “I don’t know why he is doing this to himself.”

“He is blaming himself. Sometimes people do irrational things when they blame themselves.” I said grimly. “When a person in convinced he is somehow to be blamed for everything he will go out of his way to make sure nobody gets hurt by him, even if it means locking himself away and throwing away the key. If he is convinced that is how he will be able to protect the person he loves.”

Vi glanced at me before concentrating on the road again. “Are we still talking about Jordan?”

Oh my wise, little sister!

“It was nothing Vi.” I said quietly. “Derek and I have nothing going on.”

Vi laughed mirthlessly. “I would believe ANYTHING on God’s green earth except for this one single fact that NOTHING at all is going on between you two.” She paused. “Though I can easily believe you two are totally oblivious about it.”

“Will you be ok if something happens between the two of us?” I asked.

Vi mulled over my question. Then she answered. “Will I be ok? No. But Will I be happy? Yes. For Derek certainly deserves somebody like you, who makes him laugh and who saves his life and not drags him into danger. He deserves to be happy. You will make him happy.” There was not an iota of doubt in her voice and my heart broke over the fact how grown-up my little sister actually was that she could give up the love of her life to another person because according to her he would be safer and happier! 

Oh Derek...you are SO VERY lucky and yet you are SUCH a fool...

Vi's phone started ringing and she picked it up keeping her eyes trained on the road.

"Yes," It is Jordan, Vi mouthed at me and frowned as she listened to the other end puncturing the silence with "uh-huh!".

"What is it?" I was getting impatient. The sensation had started to come back to my limbs gradually, starting with my fingers. The effect of the venom was wearing off.

Vi glanced over at me worriedly. "Lydia won't stop screaming. We need to meet at -" She veered the car into the forest.

"Oh shit!" Vi and I exclaimed together.

Understatement of the century for on the middle of the road, stood Peter Hale - fangs out and he had WINGS!!!


	21. His happily ever after

“Hello Vi,” Peter smiled around his fangs.

He had dropped onto the bonnet from some overhead branches and clung to the windshield, scaring the ever living daylight out of us.

“Vi, speed up.” Stiles screamed urgently. 

“I can’t.” I screamed back. There were trees everywhere and the road was bumpy, in fact, there was no road at all. Heading into the preserve leaving the freeway proved to be a strategic mistake. But then, I was sure on the freeway too Peter would have overtaken us in no time.

He was still on the bonnet, clinging on like a fucking monkey.

“What do you say about a one-on-one.” Peter was actually talking to me, like we were sitting in Derek’s loft and exchanging pleasantries.

I swore and slammed the brakes instead. Peter fell down on his back and I ran him over, with the satisfactory sound of bones crunching.

“Move, move, move…” Stiles chanted, eyes staring ahead.

I didn’t have to tell twice. I zigzagged through the trees and maneuvered through the thick bushes and just prayed the engine did not die on us. 

“What the hell!” I yelled once we thought we didn’t hear Peter behind us anymore, at least for the time being.

“I think he is after you.” Stiles said helpfully.

“You think?” I wanted to smack him on the head. “Tell me something I don’t know already.”

“I…I think the venom is wearing off.” Stiles said. “I can move my fingers…and wrists.” 

I glanced over at Stiles who was concentrating very hard on the hands folded on his laps and wiggling his fingers.

I took out my phone from my jeans pocket and thrust it into his hands.

“Call Derek, Scott…anybody. We need help.”

I concentrated on the road. It was getting dark and even though I knew this part of the forest (it was near the cross-country trail I followed while running) it was not easy driving, especially with a maniac werewolf/whatever-that-was chasing after us.

“Derek…can you hear me?” Stiles had put the phone on speaker for he still couldn’t lift his hand to his ear.

“Stiles, what’s the matter?” Derek sounded worried. 

“We are in the preserve with Peter chasing us. He has fangs and…wings and he is insane.”

“What?”

“I mean he is always insane, but he is looking insaner!” Stiles said breathlessly.

“I am coming to get you. Don’t do anything stupid.” Derek barked into the phone. He didn’t even correct Stiles’s grammar this time. 

“Why do people always assume I would do something stupid?” Stiles muttered under his breath.

“Because you do.” Derek and I stated together and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“I am coming to get you.” Derek promised and disconnected the phone. 

I took it from Stiles and tucked it into my pocket again without looking away from the road and then continued driving without letting my hopes up. I knew Derek would come for us, but the million dollar question was if we would be able to survive until then.  


Stiles was silently panicking beside me. I knew he was feeling even more nervous because he was unable to move much. If the monster jumped into the car all of a sudden, Stiles wouldn’t even be able to lift his hand to defend himself. I reached out and squeezed his hand and he squeezed mine back.

“Do you hear that?” Stiles asked, tilting his head to one side. 

I did hear that! It sounded like a frightened animal, deer most probably and it was right behind us. Then there were a startled flock of birds. The sounds were coming nearer. My throat went dry.

“He is gaining on us.” I gritted my teeth. I doggedly moved forward through the trees and undergrowth towards the general direction of Hale house. There was nobody there, and I didn’t know what instinct guided me there, but we had nowhere to go.

Then we heard the howl and looked at each other, blood draining from both our faces.

I squinted forward in the darkening forest, looking for something, anything, to give us advantage. It was then that I located the purple flowers blooming amidst a clearing a few meters ahead and slammed on the brakes again.

“What are you doing?” Stiles whispered frantically. It was a wasted effort though, for with werewolf hearing, Peter could locate us by our heartbeats. So whispering wouldn’t really get us anywhere.

I got down from the jeep and went to the passenger side and opened the car door.

“Vi!” Stiles screeched. 

I hauled him out of the car, bracing him with his arm around my shoulders and all but dragged him towards the wolfsbane bush. He was heavier than me, but then I had the strength of an athlete and I had been exercising like a possessed woman for the last couple of weeks. It had started showing results.

The bush covered almost half of the clearing. I completely ignored Stiles’s vehement protests and didn’t stop until I reached the middle of the bush.

I lowered him there and went back to the jeep to retrieve Stiles’s mini harpoon thrower and a jar of mountain ash, werewolf fighting equipments we had learnt to carry with us all the time after too many life-threatening encounters with the supernatural kind.

“Vi…what the hell are you doing?” Stiles couldn’t move his legs, but he was waving his hands wildly as I threw him the harpoon thrower and circled the wolfsbane bush with mountain ash.

I stood up and surveyed the area, ignoring Stiles screaming his head off. Peter would have to cross the mountain ash, which he could not, because, hey…werewolf! After that he would have to wade knee-dip through a bush of wolfsbane, which again he would not undertake willingly, in order to reach Stiles, who would have ample time to shoot Peter in the head with an arrow laced with wolfsbane.

“Vi get your ass back in here.” Stiles screamed at me while I climbed the car and started the engine.

“If he is a chimera now, the mountain ash is not going to hold him back.” I shouted back at him. 

“He is after me and I am going to provide him a distraction.”  


I backed out from the clearing and before I lost eye-contact, I yelled at my brother who was spluttering expletives by now, “I am not going to let him kill you.”  


I rushed into the forest again, going back the same route that we took earlier. Even before Stiles’s screams faded out my car hit Peter, with full force, and he was shoved back until his backside hit a tree. I backed out and revved the engine.

Peter grinned with bloodied teeth and pushed off the tree to half-jump and half-fly right into the car, not giving me a second chance to hit him.

I had already leapt down from the car and rolled a couple of times on the forest floor before finding my footing. As soon as I did that I drew out a dagger from my boot and threw at him, using my shoulder to put the maximum amount of force behind it.

Peter dodged it easily.

“Well hello to you too,” He said pleasantly and leapt down gracefully from the car to face me. 

“Erm…nice appendage.” I remarked jerking my chin towards the wings, one of which seemed to be broken right now. They were grotesque and ugly, and they were covered with…scales! “Are we going to act civilly now?”

“Of course. I promise to be absolutely civil while I gut you.” Peter smirked as he advanced towards me, slowly and deliberately. 

“Whatever the hell are you?” I choked out as I backed up, matching his steps.

“I am…how do I put it…” Peter pretended to think for a moment or two. “Well, I am more that what I used to be. And now you will be too.”

He stopped on his tracks when he was still a couple of feet away and my back had already hit a tree trunk.

“But not before we have some fun.” He smirked. I pushed off the tree and ran, using the small window of opportunity, even though I knew Peter was right behind me. In fact, I was sure he was playing with me like a cat plays with a mouse, especially when he made no move to follow me.

Running was something I understood and was exceptionally good at. I tore through the jungle and leapt over the roots and fallen trees, with the sound of my heart pounding in my ears. I didn’t know if I had fucked up majorly by leaving Stiles behind, but I took comfort from the facts that a) Peter seemed hell bent of catching me, rather than Stiles and b) that Stiles was behind the mountain ash barrier and tucked in the midst of wolfsbane. 

Well, if it was any consolation, at least one Stilinski was going to get out of this forest alive.

I almost face-planted on the forest floor when the phone rang. I took it out, dropping behind a particularly thick overgrowth surrounding a fallen tree. I had to catch my breath if I wanted to go any further.

“Stiles, where the hell are you?” Derek yelled, his panic carrying over through the phone.

“Derek,” I whispered hoarsely. “I have left Stiles in the middle of the wolfsbane bush, near your old house.”

“You have left Stiles, paralysed neck down, out into the forest?” Derek growled dangerously. “Are you out of your mind?”

“There is wolfsbane and a mountain ash circle.” I hedged, swallowing. “He has his harpoon thrower, and last I saw he was able to move his hands.”

“The last you saw him? Are you in the car? Why did you have to leave him there in the first place?” Derek’s tone was getting more and more accusatory and it cut me to the quick. He thought I had willfully left my brother alone and helpless in the middle of the jungle.

“Listen carefully,” my voice became hard in spite of me. “I have dragged out Peter in the opposite direction. I am sure it is ME that he wants, at least for now. Stiles is ok and I am NOT going to let anything happen to him. I love him too.”

“What do you mean you love him too?” Derek demanded, like he didn’t even hear whatever I said before that.

I heard branches crunching under someone’s weight somewhere behind me and I knew I was done for this night.

“Derek, just man up and accept what you feel for Stiles, ok? How hard can it be? If Stiles can do it, so can you.” I felt strangely relieved to say these words. My head was hurting, a wild and probably insane predator was chasing me in the middle of nowhere and I had no hope whatsoever of surviving, but I had to say this out loud. Derek had lost too much and he deserved to be happy. I knew he wouldn’t survive my brother’s death too. 

“Vi, listen to me –”

“I will not let anything happen to him even if that is the last thing I do. I promise.”

“Vi –” I disconnected the call and stepped out from my hiding place, which was not much of a hiding place for, hey, werewolf, again!

Peter dropped down from the tree right in front of me. What was with this new fetish of him of dropping down from the tree? Or was he trying out his new wings? I took out my Chinese daggers from my waist-band and rotated them expertly. I had been practicing non-stop for the last two weeks. Today I would put it to the test.

“Let’s have that one on one now.” I raised my daggers chest-level, bending my knees, taking an attacking position.

“How very charming.” Peter flashed his elongated fangs.

“Oh don’t be a girl.” I taunted, stepping sideways, keeping a wary eye on the werewolf, or whatever the hell he was. This time, I was NOT going to go down without a fight, for there was a rage uncoiling at the pit of my stomach, melting away my fear. I was done feeling helpless…I was done, seeing my friends hurt over and over again. It was time the humans teach the non-humans a lesson about pain and hurt. I gripped my daggers tighter and charged forward.

…

I didn’t remember my fighting with Peter, except for that it was brief and brutal. One moment I was slashing at him with my daggers, dancing out of his reach, managing to dole out a couple of blows, the next thing I knew, Peter was dragging me through the forest, or whatever was left of my body.

I remembered dimly the burn on my stomach, and the side of my face. I remembered I still had the knife clutched in my right hand, which was almost lifeless…almost.

It hurt…

God, I was dying…

Hurt…

Too much…

Stiles…

I was hearing strange sounds and managed to crack my eyes open a bit. Through the slit I saw the Dread Doctors approaching me with a syringe. I closed my eyes again.

I felt a gloved hand slipping behind my neck, hoisting me up and I felt the cold needle pressing against the hollow of my throat. I swallowed with an effort.  


I gauged the distance and gathered my strength…my fingers curled around the dagger in my right hand while the Dread Doctor was pushing the long syringe directly into my throat.

I gripped the dagger and I put into it EVERYTHING that I had and plunged it in one swift motion into his right eye, which was made of glass just as he pressed down the plunger to empty the syringe into my body.

There was an inhuman shriek of pain as steam came out of the eyes and the Dread Doctor leapt up and clawed at his face, trying to grab the hilt of the knife blindly that was sticking out of the eye-glass.

Also, suddenly, everything became sharper in my eyes for a few moments. I could see better, smell things I didn’t know I could smell and then I could hear everything…including someone calling out my name from the distance. I wanted to answer that call for it felt like his heart was in his mouth and he would die if I didn’t answer. But then it passed. I fell back on the forest floor, completely limp and my vision was blurring again.

“No, no, no, no, no…” I heard the voice again and it was coming closer and closer.

I had a smile on my lips for even though it was an illusion…it was a good illusion that Derek was panicking for me…I wanted to tell him it was all right, that I had no regret. I wanted to tell him I had lured Peter away to save Stiles, because he was my brother and because I wanted Derek to have his happily ever after, finally.

“No, no…no…”

It was only fitting I would hear Derek’s voice while taking my last breath!


	22. Half of my pain

Stiles's POV:

“No, no, no, no, no…” My heart was breaking in a thousand little pieces for the cry that was tearing out of Derek was of absolute, utter agony, like somebody was ripping his heart right out of his chest while he was still breathing.

Also, I knew what he left unsaid for as he slid across the ground, knees grazing the forest floor and picked up Vi’s broken and bloodied from…I already knew the truth. I knew it from the utterly animal cry that was erupting from Derek’s throat, the way his shoulders hunched down, the way he cradled Vi, pressing her close to his chest and the way tears poured down his cheeks, unheeded, the way he seemed absolutely oblivious to his surroundings…to the fact that Parrish and Scott were locked in a battle with two of the Dread Doctors and…dad was standing transfixed looking at Vi’s body in Derek’s arms…

I knew the horrible truth.

I knew he couldn’t hear her heartbeat anymore.

I had known it since she left me amidst the wolfsbane bush. I had known it since she poured down the precious mountain ash to the last speck to create a protective circle around me. I had seen the steely resolve in her eyes and had known it then and there she was going to do this. That she was going to basically hand herself on a silver platter to Peter so that I was safe, to give Derek time to come and rescue me!

Dad sagged down on his knees beside Derek and reached out…and Derek SNARLED at him, eyes flashing a dangerous blue and fangs almost biting his fingers off.

Startled, dad drew back, all colours drawn from his face.

I knew I should admonish Derek for his behavior, I knew I should tell him my dad had more right to hold her than he had…I wanted to tell him he had no right for he didn’t earn it…that he never even…

Well, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, but just stood rooted to the spot.

I was not sure Derek would be able to comprehend me anyway.

He just held Vi closer and cradled her and rocked her and he touched her face, like it was brittle and she would disappear into the thin air any moment. He whispered, broken things…he whispered…things…I pressed closer to listen, I was not sure why. It was not important any more. But I couldn’t help listening anyway.

“Half of my pain…half of my pain…she wanted to take half of my pain…whoever does that? Who wants to take half of my pain…I didn’t...I didn’t…oh God…I am not…no, no…it can’t be…”

I didn’t get at first what he was talking about and then with a jolt I suddenly remembered. Actually the entire scene flashed in front of my eyes – Vi kneeling down in front of 15-year old Derek, squeezing his hand, reassuring him everything would be ok, asking him permission to share his burden…and half of his pain!

“Give me your pain…she had said.” I didn’t even realize I had talked out loud until Derek looked at me sharply. I had to look away. I could not see him like this…I had NEVER seen him like this…like he was dying inside…everything wasting away…everything…dying, inside, outside, fading, rocking, blurring away...

I didn’t notice who caught me when I was falling sideways and gently eased me on the ground. I just crouched down and continued looking at Vi, waiting for her to open her eyes.

Give me your pain…

Give me your pain…

It echoed in the air, like a whisper, like a promise…

A promise like – I will not let him kill you!

It was not happening. Vi could not be dead. It was impossible.

Before I knew what I was doing I reached out to touch her hand that fell limply on the ground, palm upwards. 

“Don’t.touch.her.” Derek growled and gathered her fallen arm to lovingly fold it on her chest and enfolded her again. She looked so tiny in his lap – like a beautiful doll, except for the vicious gashes on her midsection and across her left cheek and throat, that almost exposed her innards and her bones. The gashes at her naval had cut through some vital organs and there was a pool of blood around her and Derek’s hand, his t-shirt and jeans were turning crimson. But he just kept murmuring in her ears…now too low for my hearing.

I rested my cheek on the forest floor and looked up at Derek. The entire forest reflected in the greens of his eyes but they were wild, unseeing and that was how I knew he was too far gone.

I realised, after all these years, Derek Hale had finally broken apart!


	23. The selling of the soul

I never thought I would ever have to see Derek on his knees…begging.

To Theo of all people…

It was only this morning that Theo had his ass handed out to him by Scott and he was being intimidated by Derek. Well, fate is a bitch! Now Theo was standing tall and proud, smirking down condescendingly at Derek, kneeling at his feet, eyes cast down in supplication, murmuring how he would do anything, anything at all that was asked of him…

I thought I was going to be sick.

It was Scott who had held me back when I was spluttering obscenities at Theo and screaming at Derek to get the hell up from the cold floor of Deaton’s clinic. It was enough to see my twin sister’s lifeless body lying on the steel table. It was too much to see Derek like that. I would rather have him ranting, raving down the street like a lunatic…hell, I would rather see him dead!

But of course, there he was. It was Liam who had hesitantly suggested how we might have a possibility to save Vi, even after her heart had stopped beating. The same thing happened with Liam’s girlfriend Hayden who died following an encounter with the Dread Doctors. She was one of the failed experiments. As a trickle of mercury ran down one corner of Vi’s lips, we knew, how similar was her death to that of Hayden. However, Hayden came back, though we were not sure in what form. Theo, who had been working along with the Dread Doctors, Theo who was in fact a creation by the Doctors (being one of the Chimeras they had created), had something which could reverse the mercury poisoning and could in fact bring people back from dead and made them…something.

I was not entirely sure Hayden was alive even though she very much looked alive.

I didn’t like Liam’s suggestion at all and I made my opinion known, very colorfully I must add.

“I will talk to Theo.” Derek had suddenly raised his face which was buried in the crook of Vi’s neck.

We started for we were not even aware he was listening.

Derek no longer looked unhinged even though he didn’t loosen his arms around Vi. He just looked blank, which was pretty much his default expression most of the time. The only things that suggested a hint of emotion were his hands, which were trembling ever so slightly.

“Derek, son…” My dad put a hand on his shoulder and I refrained from choking. So apparently dad didn’t disapprove as much as he had let Vi on. I wanted to laugh at the bitter irony.

“Are you sure it is a good idea?” Dad asked hesitantly. 

Well, I had had enough.

“Dad, Vi is your daughter and my sister. I don’t give permission to this…thing.” I shook my head vehemently.

Derek pretended not to hear me at all and he stood up and carried Vi over to his Toyota.

“You cannot do this to her.” I yelled at him, trying to catch his attention. “She would not be human. She never gave you the permission.”

“Chris, would you drive?” Derek slid into the passenger seat and settled with Vi across his lap.

I held the door of the car as he was about to close it. Damn it, he would have to talk to me or he would have to close the door with my fingers locked in the frame.

“Derek you are not thinking straight.” I hissed at him. “She is gone. She is NOT going to come back.”

Derek wouldn’t even look at me.

“Derek, I am his twin brother. Do you think only you have the right mourn over her Goddamn it?” I screamed at him. “You didn’t even notice her when she was pining away for you. Now you suddenly have time to take interest whether she lives or dies?”

Derek froze for a second and slowly turned his face to look at me, finally.

“I shouted at her. I sent her to her death. If there is a way to bring her back, I would try. Even if I have to sell my soul to the devil for this.” Derek’s face was completely stoic and there was no emotion in his voice. It was the Derek we were familiar with. I knew it was futile to argue and I slammed the door shut.  


I had cursed all the way to Deaton’s clinic. Deputy Parrish and I rode dad’s cruiser. Scott and Kira went in search of Theo and the rest of the pack dispersed, unsure what to do next. We all felt…clueless and a bit detached from the reality.

When I entered into the clinic, Vi’s body was already there, on the steel table – pale and lifeless. Derek was standing beside her, holding a hand. He didn’t have eyes for anything or anybody else in the room. He looked barely alive himself. I knew the only thought that was holding himself up now was the tiny hope in the form of a magic solution that Theo was supposed to have.

Scott and Kira were able to track down Theo and bring him back as we waited. Derek had turned into a stone statue beside Vi’s bed and hadn’t even moved a muscle. I didn’t know how long he would survive Vi’s death. Dad was sitting on the floor with his head between his knees. I didn’t even have it in me to go up to him and put my arms around him for I was burning up from inside. I didn’t trust myself not to combust spontaneously.

Finally Scott and Kira had arrived with Theo, who was, as usual, smiling cockily and had his self-assured swagger back. 

“Why would I help you?” That was the first question he had asked when Scott told him, haltingly, what we wanted from him.

Nobody could give him any reply. Derek’s head had snapped up and he scanned the room, looking everybody in the eye. Everybody averted their eyes. It was not because we didn’t want to help, but we knew it was hopeless. We knew Theo was a sanctimonious bastard and that he wouldn’t help us in any way and we had no response to Theo’s question.

Derek had a response though.

He left Vi’s side carefully folding her hand over her chest and walked towards Theo who had taken an involuntary step back, even though Derek didn’t appear threatening, no more than usual in any case.

When he came face to face with Theo, he sank to his knees and he did that thing…he begged.

I was screaming my head off and would have clawed Theo’s face or would have punched Derek repeatedly or would have done something similarly drastic if Scott had not held me back.

Theo, being the spawn of satan that he was, looked like he was enjoying every bit of it.

“I may have some use for you.” He stroked his lower lip thoughtfully. Then he reached out and traced one side of Derek’s face starting from the forehead to the delicate cleft on his chin, with the tip of his fingers. “It is a pity though for you are really pretty.” Derek shuddered involuntarily. 

There was a collective audible gasp. Even I was shocked into silence. While I knew Derek had survived quite a few assaults on his physical and emotional self that had gone beyond simple torture for being even more invasive and cruel, it was probably the first time it was hinted at in a room full of audience who were staring at him with horror.

Theo grabbed Derek’s chin and tilted his face upward.

“Such magnetic eyes.” He cooed. His thumb brushed over Derek’s lower lip. “Such beautiful lips.”

Dad was rising up to his feet slowly, his hand at his holster and there was pure rage in his eyes.

Derek managed to shoot him a look before looking back at Theo again. 

Dad’s hand froze and his face crumpled. I had never seen him so helpless, even when he was looking at Vi’s dead body.

I heard a sound and turned to see Chris storming out of the clinic. After a brief hesitation dad and Deputy Parrish followed his lead. 

Theo looked at the rest of us and smirked.

“I should have said please give us some privacy, but you know what? I won’t.” He looked down at Derek who was even paler than Vi’s body by now.

“For I love to have an audience.”

“Just get it over with.” Derek gritted out. 

“Oh...and that attitude.” Theo smiled sweetly. “Did I tell you I always had a thing for sassy little things like you? Malia got that from you didn’t she?”  


The abrupt change of topic startled Derek. It didn’t suprise me though for Derek had no way of knowing that Theo had tried to seduce Malia quite a few times in the past and I knew for a fact that at least for once he WAS successful.

I was mad. I wanted to murder Theo right where he stood and the sheer vehemence of my thought nearly knocked me out. Before I knew what I was doing I strode forward, taking advantage of Scott being stunned to stillness at the horror unfolding in front of his eyes.

I went straight to Theo and before anybody could say anything I swung my fist and landed a punch right on his nose.

Because he was so busy coddling Derek, he didn’t even see me coming.

“You are a monster in every fucking sense of the word.” I spat at him.

“Stiles...no.” Derek sprang to his feet pushing me back.

“Oh no,” I yelled at Derek, shoving against his chest. “You don’t get to become the sacrificial lamb AGAIN over us. Vi will rise from the dead and kill me if I let you do that. She wouldn’t want that. Please Derek.”

“She has no choice in the matter since she is dead.” Derek glared at me. “Leave.”

I opened my mouth again. 

“Just leave.” Derek spat out, eyes cold and hard. “All of you.”

“No,” Theo said softly. “I would like them to watch when I make you come apart, screaming my name.”

I threw up, right on the floor.

I felt a hand on the small of my back, rubbing in soothing circles and looked up to see Derek crouched down beside me. Our eyes met and his was filled with pure panic.

I lifted my head and looked at Theo and said in a very calm voice, like I had not just thrown my lunch on the floor, “I don’t think that is going to happen buddy.”  


Theo raised his eyebrows.

“I think I have an understanding with you Derek Hale.” He addressed Derek without bothering to look at me.

Derek stood up, avoiding another eye-contact with me and strode over to Theo.

“Yes. We do.”

“You could get so much out of the deal than that.” I piped up, desperately. “I mean sure Derek is hot and all, but you are no less. There will be a queue of willing candidates for you.”

Derek glared at me frantically, if that is even possible. He shook his head imperceptibly.

I knew he was thinking I was digging myself into a hole here, but I simply couldn’t stop.

“I mean look at him. He is old. He can be a younger uncle. I meant it is gross.” I rambled on.

Theo quirked an eyebrow, his gaze never leaving Derek’s face who just stared at the wall, blankly.

“We can help you take down the beast.” Scott declared.

All of us stared at Scott, whose very existence I had clean forgotten for a few critical minutes.

“Yeah,” I got excited. “We could definitely do that and it sure beats raping Derek.” I winced as soon as the words were out of my mouth and I wouldn’t EVER be able to look at Derek again, in my entire life.

Theo threw back his head and laughed.

“Hmm...all of you make an interesting case study. But what gave you the impression I was trying to do that?”

Derek’s face was something to look at. 

“Maybe...I don’t know,” I stroked my lip, imitating Theo. “The bad touches, the innuendoes, the way your eyes were licking Derek all over!”

“Or probably because of your graphic description how you wanted me to come apart screaming your name.” Derek monotoned. 

“Oh I meant I wanted you to get ripped apart all right. By the Beast of Gévaudan for whom you are going to provide a nice distraction while I slash his throat and claim his power. You would scream my name, cursing me to hell and back, but you would have no other option.” Theo grinned genially.

“Why him in particular?” I asked. I didn’t know whether it was a better or a worse fate for Derek, but looking at his face now, it was apparent, he was looking weirdly relieved for a guy chosen to play the bait for a 500-year old vicious monster.

“Because I scare him.” Derek smiled toothily, apparently having gotten over his begging phase, now that we knew what Theo wanted.

“I am so glad to see we understand each other well.” Theo said pleasantly.

“Now the shot. Give her the shot.” Derek moved to Vi’s side again, going back to hold her lifeless hand.

Theo produced a disposable syringe and an ampoule full of yellowish liquid from the pocket of his jacket.

“You know there is another reason I chose you to do this.” Theo said while pulling the plunger to draw in the amber liquid.

“If she is resurrected, and there is a big IF, she would be a chimera, under my leadership.” Theo smiled up at Derek as he grabbed Vi’s chin to tilt her sideways.  


Derek didn’t deign to answer him, but Theo went on as the liquid was drained into Vi’s system.

“And she would not be able to deny my command and so she would effectively be under my thumb.”

Derek’s grip on Vi’s hand tightened. 

“So that means, I would have a command over you by default.”

Then he went round the steel table and stood behind Derek who went absolutely rigid, though he still continued to look at Vi.

He craned his neck and leaned into Derek’s right ear. “I still think your eyes are pretty though.” Then suddenly his tongue darted out from his mouth, snake-like and before Derek could move he licked the rim of his ear delicately.

Derek’s reaction was completely foreseeable of course. He slammed Theo with such force against the wall that I was half-sure a few broken bones were involved and gave out a terrifying roar, that would probably have a grown man piss in his pants.

“Just saying.” Theo swallowed, hands held up in a surrendering gesture. “You cannot go back on your promise now. I have upheld my side of the bargain.”

Derek left him to return by Vi’s side.

“I am going to repay it.” He scowled, looking down at Vi. “How long does it take?”

“Three to four hours max.” Theo said, massaging his throat. “If she is not up by morning, then it is probably a lost case.”

“Derek is also free, in that case.” Surprisingly, it was not me, but Scott who said the magic words.

“No way in hell.” Theo threw a disbelieving look at Scott. “He is going with me, right away. I know where the beast is holed up. No matter whether the girl lives or dies, I have given up from my precious supply. He is honour-bound to help.”

I wanted to tell Theo to go fuck himself and that he was the one talking about honour!

But Derek, the infuriating man just nodded and said, “Very well then. Please lead the way.”

“We are coming with you” I said and looked over at Scott for support who nodded in complete agreement.

“What...no! No way.” Derek had started to shake his head.

We didn’t deign to answer him.


	24. To hell and back

We knew the symbol meant something – a snake devouring its own tail – which we had found at the basement of the water treatment plant. As it turned out, it was the emblem of the Dread Doctors.

Theo pushed the round space circled by the serpent and a loud hissing noise had me scramble backwards. A part of the wall separated from the rest and opened partially like a door, to reveal a dark passageway and an extremely foul stench came out from the small opening.

Theo entered first, followed by Derek.

“Stiles, stay here.” He threw over the shoulder before disappearing into the dark.

Scott and I exchanged glances.

“No way in hell.” I exclaimed.

“Dude, I think it is for the best. It is not some random rogue werewolf.” Scott pleaded. “It is a blood-thirsty monster.”

“No.” I said emphatically.

Derek reappeared near the doorway, evidently, having already heard the exchange. 

“The fuck Stiles. For once in your life just listen to me.” He shouted.

“Why do you care?” I snapped back.

“Think about your father Goddamn it.” Derek strode forward and poked at my chest with a finger. “You are the only one left. Do you want to kill him from grief?”

“He is right Stiles.” Scott said solemnly.

“God forbid, are you agreeing with Derek?” I screeched. “Since when did my dad start calling Derek ‘son’ and you agree with what Derek said? What the hell is the wrong with the world?”

Scott and Derek both leveled unimpressed gazes towards me.

“Ok, ok.” I put up my hands in a gesture of surrender. “Go die, you moron. See if I care.” I shoved Dererk back with one hand.

He opened his mouth and closed it again, as if wanting to say something and thinking better of it at the last moment and looked at me for a few seconds longer than necessary, wordlessly.

I squirmed under his glance. Then he turned round and disappeared into the dark again, with Scott following him.

I shuffled on my feet, muttered curses under my breath and gave it ten minutes before following their footsteps.

The moment I entered into the passage, the stench became even more potent and I held back the urge to retch. I tried to breathe through my mouth and cautiously stepped forward, gripping my mini harpoon thrower in my hand.

I heard the noises and screams even before I came out into the huge vault-like room.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Theo was serious when he said about using Derek as a bait for he was hanging from the ceiling, being skewed by what appeared to be a meat hook. Blood was pouring down in gushes from his chest from where the tip of the hook protruded out.

I had the urge to throw up again. Why did Scott allow it?

I looked at the other side of the room and realized why. Scott was locked in a battle with Tracy, Corey and Josh, the three chimeras of Theo’s pack! Hayden was nowhere to be seen though.

However, of even more immediate importance was the thing that had appeared from the other end of the room where there was a huge hole on the wall.

I gaped and fought down the urge to just turn on my heels and run.

The thing was huge, larger than any werewolf I had ever seen and there was NO humanity in it. Its eyes flashed pure white and it had claws the size of daggers and teeth like sharks rather than wolves.

Upon entering into the vault it let out a terrifying roar and I almost wet my pants.

I realized I had never known elemental terror before I saw the Beast of Gévaudan in my own eyes. Derek’s eyes flew open at the sound and he struggled in the air, screaming out in agony as it resulted in the hook tearing asunder more flesh. The beast’s head snapped to Derek and he immediately lunged at him.

I closed my eyes.

I heard another terrifying roar, but this sound was familiar. I opened my eyes gingerly and saw an impossible sight. The beast was cowering on the floor as Scott’s roar reverberated throughout the vault. Scott stood over him, fully wolfed out and his eyes flashing red.

A sudden realization dawned upon me: the beast of Gévaudan was an omega!

Theo jumped on the beast, wolfed out and tried to rip out its throat, but with another roar, it threw Theo backward effortlessly. The beast stood up wobbling and was going for Derek, again, who had reached up and grabbed the hilt of the hook and was trying to take it out from his body.

Scott gathered his strength to roar again. This time the beast only flinched and covered its ears, turning instinctively away from Scott.

“Yeaahhhhh.” Derek screamed as he made an inhuman effort to disengage his body from the hook.

I took aim and shot the beast…and for once in my life, my aim was right. I thought Allison was by my side, guiding my hands.

The beast let out a terrible yell and tried to yank out the arrow lodged squarely between his eyes.

Derek dropped on all four and panted. He looked like he was going to pass out any moment now. The beast fell on the ground and began crawling towards Derek.

“It smells blood. It is targeting the person who is bleeding.” I yelled at Scott.

Scott’s head snapped at me and I saw understanding and determination dawned on his face.

He slashed his left wrist with his claws.

“Come on,” He shouted to the beast, who was still approaching Derek.

I guessed it was because Derek was still bleeding profusely for he had a hole in the middle of his chest and he was healing at a much slower rate.

The beast was almost on Derek when Theo and Scott both attacked it from behind. Good for Derek for he looked half dead and I didn’t think he had enough power to even lift one hand to save himself.

Even with a Goddamn arrow lodged in its brain the beast fought viciously with Scott and Theo, but he had slowed down and he seemed considerably less powerful than before.

Just when it seemed the beast was about to get the upperhand in the battle, Derek’s body shook violently and he let out a howl. His body convulsed and began to transform in front of our eyes. Black fur erupted all over his body and his face developed pointed ears and a snout and in no time, in place of Derek, there stood a huge black wolf, shaking out of Derek’s clothes which lay discarded. It’s flesh was all healed with no sign of injury anywhere.

Derek’s eyes flashed blue as he leapt gracefully on the beast, tearing away a chunk of meat from the shoulder. He landed on all fours just behind the beast who snarled in pain and whirled round to face the new enemy.

Scott slashed his back and Theo choked him from behind. The beast clawed at Theo’s hands, but Derek was on him again biting down on one of the clawed hands. The beast stopped struggling and finally went limp on the floor. Theo stood up and looked at his hands. His claws retracted and he was back to his human form. He frowned.

“I don’t understand.” He sounded puzzled.

“If you haven’t figured it out yet,” Peter appeared from the same hole the beast had appeared earlier. “The beast was NOT an alpha, but a packless omega. Killing him doesn’t make you an alpha.” He sneered. “Good that I don’t have to babysit it again on behalf of the Doctors. Thanks a lot.”

Suddenly before anybody could even blink, Derek shot forward and leapt through the air, soundlessly. He tore though Peter’s jugular in one smooth motion and Peter’s head lolled to one side even before his body slumped down on the ground. 

He changed into his human form and sat kneeling on the ground looking at the remains of his last blood relative, other than Malia.

His back was turned to us and I saw the triskele, between his shoulder blades, quiver as tremor after tremor passed through his body.

Then he extended his claws and severed Peter’s head from his body entirely. 

I couldn’t feel outraged. On the contrary, I felt relieved that Vi’s death was vindicated. Scott went down on his knees beside Derek and hugged him. Derek went stiff for a moment and then leaned onto him.

I took off my sweatshirt, strode forward to where Derek and Scott was sitting and handed it to Derek, who took it without looking at me.  
Tears were streaking down his cheeks. I had to look away, feeling another sob rising in my throat.

.........  


Derek was the last one.

But he just stood there, staring down at Vi’s coffin lowered into the rectangular hole on the ground – the final resting place of my twin sister. A hysterical laugh rose in my chest which I tried to fight down.

It had been three days and Vi had not woken up.

We had to sneak out her body from Deaton’s clinic while Scott had lured Derek away with the news that the beast had got resurrected by the Dread Doctors (a blatant lie of course for one of them were dead and the other two were missing and hopefully had skipped BH for good) and he needed Derek’s help to subdue it.

We didn’t think he would appear at the funeral.

Well, here he was, in a black button down and black trousers. I was not aware he owned any formal wear, but apparently we had misjudged Derek’s everything by a mile!  
The priest cleared his throat.

Derek remained motionless.

Dad approached Derek and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"Son," he said softly.

Derek snapped out of it with a visible effort, looked at dad and nodded, acknowledging our presence for the first time.

He went down on one knee and threw down, not a handful of dirt, but a bunch of pristine white calla lilies into the grave and stood up, his face a carefully schooled blank, though he looked as pale as a ghost. His eerie calmness was in sharp contrast with everybody gathered around, crying their eyes out.

It was Chris who came forward and hugged Derek, blocking his view from the grave which was now getting filled up.

Derek was still staring fixedly at the grave over Chris’s shoulders.

“Derek.” Chris tried to pull Derek away, but he wouldn’t budge, wouldn’t even look away. “Derek please you don’t have to see this.” Chris grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away.

Derek looked at Chris, and oh..wow. His eyes were…just vacant! It was like he looked right through Chris.

Well, I didn’t know why we kept on expecting Derek to just snap out of it. I realized we never really knew the depth of his feelings for he kept it under wrap so well. I should have known Derek never did anything halfway.

“I think I will stay here for a bit.” Derek said in a toneless voice, not looking at Chris, not looking at anybody at all.

Chris looked straight at me. 

“Stiles,” he pleaded.

I didn’t know why everybody assumed I could reason with Derek when everybody else failed. I hated it!

“Let him be,” Scott spoke up from behind. His eyes were on Derek and he looked haunted. I knew then, he remembered Allison’s death and her funeral.

“Ok,” I conceded and turned my back on him.

It was when I was consoling dad who had just broken down, sobbing hysterically into his hands before reaching our car that I heard the noise.

Looking over my shoulder I saw a commotion near Vi’s grave. All of us except Derek had come away and were about to board our cars by now. I didn’t understand what or who could cause the problem.

I stood up and strode forward along a concerned Scott, Chris, Melissa following me to see whatever the shouting was about.

When we reached Vi’s grave, we were not prepared for the sight that greeted us.

Derek was digging the recently filled grave with BARE HANDS. The people who were working on filling up the grave and setting up the headstone were trying to reason with him. While we were looking on dumbstruck, a couple of them started tugging at Derek’s arms, but he just shrugged them off him. They seemed astonished that a man looking like death itself could possess so much strength.

“Holy hell.” Scott exclaimed. 

“Derek don’t do it.” I yelled at him.

“Derek. honey,” Melissa was on verge of crying again. “Let her go. Let her be at peace.”

Derek looked up straight at Malissa and he was grinning. I had no doubt at all he had gone completely mad, until…

“I can hear her heartbeat Melissa.” Derek said. “I need to…” He got busy in digging again. His hands were soiled and I could probably see blood from where his nails had broken in the effort, but he continued digging.

“It is true?” Dad had walked over to us. “Scott?” 

Scott stood frozen and then he cocked his head to one side. "I don't know." Scott mumbled nervously. "I am not sure."

“I told you this man has gone mad.” One of the gravediggers glowered. 

I pleaded dad with my eyes. He immediately took the hint and he barked out a command with a tone of authority.

“I think you should help him digging up the grave. I would like to open the casket and take a look.”

The men looked at each other.

“Please do as I tell you. I am the Sheriff and the father of the deceased. I have full authority to dig up her grave.”

Scott and I went to Derek and tried to tug him away.

“Come on big guy.” I said. “They are going to dig it up. Be patient.” 

Derek looked at me and moved aside. He was trembling all over, like a leaf.

“Are you sure?” I whispered into his ear. 

“Yes. I am sure.” He stated, not looking away from the grave.

I felt I was also shaking pretty badly. Dad came from behind to stand beside me. He reached down and held my hand. I squeezed his back.

An eerie silence hovered over the cemetery, broken only by the call of the birds and the dull thumb of the shovel. The coffin was getting unearthed bit by bit.  
Finally, the diggers opened the lid of the coffin and Derek shot forward to leap down right into the grave.

“Vi.” He cupped Vi’s seemingly lifeless face and urged gently. “Vi, open your eyes.”

“Holy God.” Scott clapped a hand over his mouth. “She has a heartbeat.”

“Yes she does.” Kira nodded.

Derek scooped her body out of the coffin and leapt out of the grave. There were people around, but really we couldn’t care less, not today.

Derek lay Vi down gently on the grass. We gathered around her, hoping against hope.

“Vi…please.” Derek started crying silently, crouching down beside her. He removed a lock of hair from her pale forehead and touched her cold lips with his fingertips. 

“Vi…” Dad sounded utterly lost. If she didn’t open her eyes now, I would go mad.

And then she started coughing startling all of us. Derek rocked back on his heels in surprise. 

Vi’s eyes flew open and she sat up. There was no sign of her injuries and the gashes on her throat were gone, replaced by smooth skin.

“Derek.” Vi’s eyes sought out Derek as he stood up slowly, with a strange smile spreading on his face.

The silence dragged on for a few seconds before the screams erupted – hysterics of joy. Dad flung himself at Vi and pretty much crushed her.

“Dad,” She complained. “Trying…to…breathe.” Dad laughed through tears. Dad was replaced soon by Melissa, Lydia followed by Scott and Kira together. I was laughing like a maniac, not able to tear my eyes away from my sister, back from the dead. No matter what form she was going to take, she was BACK and nothing else mattered any more. I was crazy to tell Derek not to bring her back. Speaking of Derek…I couldn’t see him in the crowd surrounding Vi. Where did he go?

I looked around and spotted the backside of his black shirt somewhere far from us. He was walking away, again. 

“Son of a bitch.” I muttered under my breath and chased after him.

“Hey where the hell are you going?” I yelled at him.

Derek stopped, but did not turn back.

I went around him to stand face to face.

“What the hell man? You cannot just resurrect her and run away like a coward again. Nobody would believe now if you say you don’t love her. So just get your head out of your ass and go to her and stay put for a change in stead of running away.” I flailed around a little, spluttering.

Derek’s eyes had never left me while I was rambling on. 

“Will you say something?” I threw my hands in air, “instead of looking at me like THAT?”

“Stiles,” Derek sounded tired.

“Don’t you dare Stiles me!” I almost screamed at him. “You are leaving again. This is NOT acceptable. NO WAY.”

“Who is leaving?” 

Derek sighed and turned around slowly to face Vi.

They stared at each other silently for a whole minute before Vi cleared his throat. 

"Well?" She said. 

"I...um...I'll be leaving in two days?" Derek said and surprisingly enough there was none of his self-assured cockiness. In fact he looked downright nervous. 

"Are you asking my permission?" Vi folded her hands across her chest, glaring. Behind her dad, Chris, Scott, Melissa, Lydia and Kira had gathered around, keeping a respectful distance, but everybody's eyes were now trained on Derek, expectantly. 

Derek didn't seem to notice anybody at all. 

"I am leaving Beacon Hills for good. I don't need your permission. I already told you about my plans," Derek said. For the first time in my life I noticed Derek was trying to appear cool, but in reality he looked a great deal flustered. 

"Plans change." Vi said quietly. 

“Nothing has changed Vi. There is no need for me to change my plan. I was delayed for I had to take care of a little thing.” Derek sighed again.

“Something has changed.” Vi smirked, and from that pure EVIL Stilinski smirk, I knew it was Vi alright. It was definitely my sister. “I can now hear your heartbeat.”

“What of it?” Derek took a step towards Vi, seemingly unaware of doing so.

“You keep it well under control. But there are spikes, lasting for a nano second.” Vi took a step towards Derek, standing toe-to-toe.

“Enough to let me know.” Vi smiled again, and this time it was not an evil smirk. The smile lit up her entire face. She looked so beautiful now, my sister, she looked like an angel.

“Let you know what?” Derek looked like he was in a trance, that he didn’t even know what he was doing. He seemed completely hypnotized by Vi’s face, which we never thought would smile at us like that again.

Vi placed the palm of her right hand on Derek’s chest.

“I can hear your heartbeat say that you love me.” She whispered. “I saw you crying over me. I saw you going raving mad over me. I saw you trying to dig me out of the grave by bare hands. I didn’t know how I know. I dreamt of all these, and I can’t explain how. But I do know one thing for sure.”

Her eyes flashed red.

“I have always, always loved you and now I know that you love me back.”

Derek kept on looking at her with wonder, with awe and with infinite tenderness while it was my sister, my brave, beautiful, crazy sister who finally took the matter into her little hands and cupped his jaw and kissed him, slowly, languidly, forgetting the entire world standing in mute witness – standing in the middle of the graveyard. And then Derek was kissing her back, holding her possessively to his chest, cupping her head with his hand, like he had no intention at all of letting her go.

“So,” dad cleared his throat beside me, making me jump. “What happened to parental permission these days?” He muttered.

“Dad,” I grinned at him. “You have already called him ‘son’, twice.”

Dad face-palmed!


	25. You are  my world

“So she is an alpha.” Theo said looking like he was trying to wrap his head around the fact.

“The irony of it.” I smirked at him. “You tried to use her death to become an alpha. Now you would be lucky if your pack decides not to follow Vi instead of you. Hayden already seems to be quite taken to her. The rest of your pack may want to follow her footsteps. It is a pity though she is not keen on taking up the responsibility of a new pack!”

“But how is it possible?” Theo looked puzzled and not a little bit angry.

“We don’t quite know.” Scott said. “Deaton thinks it was because her death was an act of sacrifice.”

“So she is a true alpha!” Theo looked ready to tear out his hair in frustration. “But it took months for Scott to be a true alpha.”

“Probably because Scott always struggled with his power in the sense that he never wanted to be a werewolf in the first place and wanted to become human again. He refused the power that would have come naturally to him.” Derek explained. 

It had taken a lot of persuasion, on both sides, to have Theo in the same room with Derek and Derek still seemed pretty stiff and I really didn’t blame him. However Scott and I convinced him it was better to have an uneasy alliance with him and his pack rather than a bloodbath to mark our respective territories and all. In the future we might need his help to subdue other supernatural evils that threaten BH again. Also, his knowledge about the Dread Doctors would come in handy if they ever chose to come back to BH.

So here we were, at Derek’s loft, trying to chart out territories with the asshole instead of pummeling him senseless that he deserved.

“What is strange though, she is not showing any sign of being a chimera. She is a legitimate werewolf and she is even affected by the mountain ash as a regular werewolf.” Scott said with wonder in his voice.

“She is no regular werewolf. She is an alpha.” Derek insisted. “But I see what you mean. The thing is I already once told you when somebody turns into a shape-shifter, he or she takes the form of their animal spirits.”

“That means Vi has a wolf spirit?” Scott asked.

“A very brave, strong-willed, protective and fiercely loyal wolf spirit.” Derek smiled (which was still a new expression on him, one which I never got tired to see). “An alpha wolf spirit.”

“Well, good for her, but –” Theo’s speech was cut off in the midway as the door was flung open and Vi rushed inside in a blur to shove Theo against the wall with clawed hand digging into his skin. Her eyes flashed red and it was pretty clear she only had a tenuous control over her wolf at the time.

“You asked Derek to do what?” She snarled. 

Theo blanched.

“Oh boy.” Scott muttered.

“Vi” Derek approached my sister cautiously, hands in the air in the gesture of placating a cornered animal, a dangerous cornered animal.

Vi didn’t take any notice of him.

“What did you do to Derek?” She growled again.

“I…didn’t…I…” Theo stammered.

Vi slammed him against the wall again, hitting his head hard against the concrete and he whimpered.

“What did you intend to do with him?”

“Vi…” I tried to approach her, but Derek’s hand shot out and created a barrier. I looked up at him and he shook his head at me in a gesture that clearly said not now.

“You touched him. What did you touch him with. Huh? Your hand? Your tongue? Tell me, for I am going to rip those limbs one by one from your body.” Vi’s entire body was shaking now.

“It was a joke…I swear…I was only kidding.” Theo panted as Vi’s grip around his throat tightened.

Vi looked at him disbelievingly. 

“You joked to an abuse victim about raping him in front of his friends?” She sounded even more furious.

What? Scott and I exchanged glances. Well, so it was not a case of simple calf love between Kate and Derek after all! Why wasn’t I surprised? It explained why Derek always reacted so vehemently to unwanted touches. It explained the guilt complex, the cocooning of self behind an unfeeling mask, the needless violence and so many other things that we didn’t understand about Derek. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Had the fate decided to create every form or torture it could conceive and dump it on a single person? It was so unfair!

Derek made a sound at the back of his throat and he abruptly turned on his heels.

Vi’s head snapped back and it seemed a switch was turned off. She left Theo and rushed to Derek and put a hand on his arm to stop him from walking away. Theo slipped off the loft quietly.

“No Derek, you don’t get to leave. This needs to stop.”

Derek didn’t turn to face her, but he stopped in his track.

“It was me…”

“If you say Kate abusing a 15-year old you is somehow your fault, I am going to gouge out my ears.” Vi threatened.

I walked up to Derek and dared to put my hands on his shoulders.

“Derek, man, it is all right. It is all behind you.” I said quietly. “But we are here if you need to talk.”

“We are your friends, Derek.” Vi pleaded. “You can share your pain with us and not having us guessing about it. People need therapy to get over that kind of things and you hid it from everyone.”

“How do you know?” I asked Vi. It seemed highly unlikely Derek would sit down with Vi and have a chat about it.

“At Kate’s basement.” Vi whispered. “There was an exchange between the two and I knew.” Vi shuddered.

Derek was still refusing to meet my eyes or turn round and meet Vi’s.

Vi hugged Derek from behind.

“We love you Derek.” Her voice broke. “You don’t get to offer yourself to the next monster who threatens my life or kidnaps me or promises to raise me from the dead.”  


Derek still stood stiffly, staring into the space.

“Contrary to what you believe you are not a piece of dirt that you can throw yourself away like that. It is not acceptable.” Vi sniffed on Derek’s shirt. 

She raised her head and walked around him to stand in front of Derek. She took his face in her hands. 

“You are way too precious.” She said quietly, looking deep into his eyes. Derek finally glanced at her, but he looked incredulous.

“There will be monsters Derek, and there will be you. Protector, friend, teacher.” 

Tears were streaming down her face freely now.

“Derek,” Vi sounded so broken, like a lost little girl and who would imagine she was throwing around a grown ass man around a minute back.

Derek’s face crumpled and for the second time in my life (first when Vi had died) I had the privilege to see the man behind the mask. 

Finally he came out of whatever sad place he was roaming in and he enfolded Vi in a bone-crushing hug, burying his face at the crook of her neck.

“I…I felt dirty all over…I never deserved anything…I felt…she made me feel like I worth nothing…since her, nobody ever liked me…not even the people I thought were my friends…”

“Oh dear Lord!” I muttered, but Derek went on, unheeded.

“I convinced myself I deserved everything that she did to me…” Broken words and choked sobs came out of Derek that didn’t sound like Derek at all. “I didn’t want to taint you…I didn’t want anybody to be near me…I couldn’t stand somebody like YOU near me…I am…tainted...”

“No you are not." Vi' voice came muffled, but there was no denying she believed every word she said. "Do you know what you are? You are my salvation. You are my world. You are my…everything. I will go to the end of the world and die a thousand deaths to protect you.” Vi sobbed into Derek’s chest. 

“Whatever she did to you, you never let it touch your soul…for you have a beautiful soul Derek Hale. You are beautiful. ALL OF YOU.”

Derek’s grip around Vi tightened.

I realized I was crying only when Scott placed a hand on my shoulder.

We looked at each other and the look on Scott’s face almost matched mine. 

We retreated quietly, and saw ourselves out.

The negotiations and fight-pans and territory disputes…everything could wait.

What was there between Derek and Vi, this moment they were having together, it was far more precious.

I glanced over my shoulder for a last look and they were still clinging to each other and crying their eyes out.

I was confident my heartache would only last for a mere couple of years or decades! 

………….  


“I told you mountain ash won’t work.” I panted with my hands on my knees, promising myself I would be taking up cross-country running soon.

“I have figured it out by now, thank you.” Derek had a gash the size of Grand Canyon on his chest and he was wheezing. Yes, it was the usual hazards of our job or protecting BH from evil supernatural forces.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?” I whined.

“Have YOU ever listened to you?” Derek glared. “You talk incessantly. It is very hard to try and weed out the unnecessary ramblings and remember the portions that are actually worth listening.”

“Did you just insult my highly informative monologues as ramblings or did you just praised me declaring I DO say things that are worth listening.”  


Derek just glared.

“Dude, I told you. Humans communicate. Glaring and eyebrow-raising and slamming people against the wall are not customary modes of communication in the polite society.”

Derek pointedly looked around. We were standing in the middle of the jungle, in front of the burnt husk of the Hale house. Scott and Kira were sitting on the steps of the porch and Liam and Hayden were sprawled on the ground, recovering from various wounds, and the last two were still wolfed out.

I huffed. “Whatever sourwolf, just accept that you are an uncommunicative brute. I don’t know how Vi puts up with you in the first place.”

“Stiles,” Vi appeared out of the house and jumped down from the porch to loom menacingly in front of me. The show off! “Don’t flirt with my boyfriend.”

“Well, he likes it.” I pointed towards Derek who put up his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender, throwing me to the wolf, literally. “Yo, man. Tell her you like flirting with me…that this back and forth banter is what makes your life enjoyable which is otherwise all doom and gloom.”

Scott laughed and then started coughing, splitting blood. Served him just right! 

Derek was doing his eye-roll thing when Vi was suddenly on to him. She took his face between her hands and stood on her tiptoe to catch hold of his lips with her teeth in a blatantly shameless kiss, that went on like forever. And just like that Derek was lost to us…one hand circling her waist and the other cradling the back of her head. He seemed totally oblivious to the lewd catcalls from Liam and Hayden and a grossed out squeak from Scott “Eww…get a room you two!”

The kiss went on for what seemed like a couple of hours more and when they were able to take out their respective tongues out of their throats they just stood like that, smiling at each other like dopey-eyed goofballs and it was heart-breakingly cute to look at. I sighed for my chest contracted at the sudden and overwhelming sense of joy. 

“Boyfriend.” Vi pecked Derek on the nose.

“Girlfriend.” Derek whispered back happily, kissing her on the forehead.

I face-palmed. “Guys, you need to come up with better pet names. I have a few suggestions for you.”

“Shut up Stiles.” Both of them snapped in unison, without taking their eyes off each other, but there was no real heat in it. 

Malia chose that moment to come up from behind and hugged me. I grabbed her hands clasped on my chest and gave her a peck on the cheek.

“They are so beautiful together.” She whispered wistfully into my ears.

“Yes,” I confessed, I too had a slightly dopey smile on my face, looking at them, whispering sweet nothings to each other.

“So…my place or yours?” Malia asked.

I turned my face to her and realized she was nervous. She chewed her lower lip, looking at me with big, vulnerable eyes.

“Your place. Your dad makes killer bar-b-que.” I smiled at her and the answering smile was so dazzling that my chest contracted again with a different emotion.

I kissed MY girlfriend then and realized why Derek and Vi looked like the universe ceased to exist when their lips met. For it happened with me too.

I came up for air only out of shock when Derek of all people joined the catcalls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew...! Final chapter uploaded and I am emotionally drained. I wanted to post the last chapter on the V-day because I thought it was appropriate for beneath fantasies and adventures, it is basically a love story. Please comment freely to let me know what you think of my work. I am also writing an original fantasy novel in three parts, and I would love to get it published in near future. So this little novel is an experiment on my writing skill (provided I have any) and to test the waters so to speak. Looking forward to your comments for I really don't have any friend to discuss TW or DH and I sometimes just die to talk about them endlessly :(
> 
> I do have a vague idea about a sequal. It will come into being if the response for this one is positive. So, please guys, everything depends on you. I wait your judgement with beating heart, but please don't judge too harshly; I have put my heart and soul into it :)


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